Summer/Fall 2012 Volume 62.2/3 ASOR Breaks Record — Awards 42 Field Scholarships in 2012 SOR celebrates break- ing another record—we awarded 42 scholar- A 300 ships for fieldwork to students and junior scholars during the 263 summer of 2012. Our previous 250 record had been 38 awards in 2008 and again in 2011. We 200 188 were especially glad to be able to award more grants because 150 we received applications from 187 people, more than double the number from last year. The 100 75 increase in the scholarships is 50 38 38 42 also timely because the number 26 24 of scholarship funds available 20 elsewhere has decreased with 0 the challenging economy in the 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 tlota TOTAL past three or four years. GOAL 2007–12 inc luding goal for We are pleased that ASOR 2013 is becoming known as one of the major sources for modest field scholarships, and we have awarded 188 grants since arships and fellowships for 2013—giving us more than 260 2007. Given the unprecedented need demonstrated in 2012, we awards since 2007! The above chart shows our annual progress. have decided to increase our efforts and set a goal of 75 schol- continued on page 3 In this Newsletter ASOR Breaks Record — Awards 24 Field Scholarships in 2012 ...... 1, 3 ASOR Continues Going Social...... 15 Reports From the 2012 Summer Field Fellowships...... 3-6, 31-47 Crowdsourced...... 16 Development Update ...... 7-8 Outreach Committee Honored ...... 17 Fiscal Year 2012 Honor Roll ...... 8-9 ACOR 2013-2014 Fellowships...... 18-19 Election for the ASOR Board...... 10 AIAR 2013-2014 Fellowships...... 21 New Assistant Treasurer Announcement...... 10 ASOR Annual Meeting Program At A Glance...... 22-23 Call for Nominations...... 11 ASOR Annual Meeting Business Meetings and Events...... 24-25 Membership Report...... 12-13 ASOR Annual Meeting Academic Program Updates...... 28
The American Schools of Oriental Research Letter from the President is a nonprofit, scientific and educational organization founded in 1900.
his issue of the newsletter celebrates the ically important, and their active engagement P. E. MacAllister successful year of ASOR’s scholarship and inclusion will be vital to ASOR’s contin- Chairman of the Board program. As reported in our ued growth and development as T Timothy P. Harrison cover story, this past spring and an organization. President summer saw the award of a record- Effective outreach is cen- breaking 42 field scholarships to tral to this effort. In our digital Eric M. Meyers Past President students and junior scholars. At a age, such an effort necessarily time when many organizations, must engage the new social me- Andrew G. Vaughn including some of our institutional dia. I am thus pleased to report Executive Director partners, have had to cut back on that in March ASOR launched student funding, it has been grati- Sharon Herbert an exciting new social media Vice President fying to witness the continued and initiative (see article on p. 15 in growing support our scholarship this Newsletter), involving the Theodore Burgh program has received from our membership. creation of an ASOR Facebook page (www. Interim Vice President for Membership While some of the scholarships were funded facebook.com/ASOR.org) and an ASOR Blog James Strange through long-standing endowments, the larg- (asorblog.org), both of which have been an Secretary est number, 28 in total, were made possible unqualified success, and most recently Twitter through the Heritage Scholarship Program, Sheldon Fox (https://twitter.com/AmerSchOrientRes). As Treasurer which depends on annual contributions from of this writing, the ASOR Blog has received individual donors. This year’s record number more than one million hits from over 20,000 Richard Coffman Assustant Treasurer was also achieved in no small part due to the unique visitors originating from over 90 coun- tremendous response to our ‘March Madness’ tries. Many of these visitors revisit the blog call for support. Both of these initiatives high- regularly to read new posts, and it is rapidly light the dedicated commitment of our member- becoming an important source for the latest ship, but also the importance of maintaining an ASOR news on developments in the field. The ASOR 656 Beacon Street, 5th floor active engagement with each of our members. Facebook page has also attracted an active and Boston, MA 02215-2010 In light of the dramatic growth in the number growing membership, with posts on job and Tel. (617) 353-6570 of applications ASOR has received in recent scholarship announcements, conferences and Fax. (617) 353-6575 E-mail: [email protected] years, we have set a goal of 75 scholarships lectures, as well as archaeological news re- and fellowships for 2013, almost double the ports. For those like myself, less confident (or number awarded this past year. Achieving this willing) to venture into this brave new world, ambitious goal will require the continued active ASOR will continue to communicate through participation of our membership. the more traditional media. Whatever the me- Concomitant with the growth of our dia, ASOR is committed to more effectively scholarship program has been the increase engaging its membership and the broader pub- in the number of donors who contributed to lic. Consequently, I will report on additional ASOR this past fiscal year (282), and the to- outreach initiatives in forthcoming issues of tal amount of gifts received ($196,000); both the Newsletter. were record levels. These positive numbers In closing, I wish to acknowledge the ac- are also reflected in the continued growth of complishment of another important outreach our membership, which surpassed the 1500 initiative, specifically the Educational Out- The ASOR Newsletter mark this past March, and has enjoyed an an- reach Committee’s involvement in developing nual rate of growth approximating 8% over curriculum for Project Archaeology, a program the past few years. As Director of Membership developed by the Bureau of Land Management Andrew G. Vaughn, Editor and Publications Services Kevin Cooney notes which received the Secretary of the Interior’s Britta Abeln, Associate Editor Jennifer Ste. Marie, Layout in the Membership Report (see pp. 12–13), Partnership Conservation Award in 2011. My these positive trends are not only important hearty congratulations to them! The ASOR Newsletter (ISSN 0361-6029) to ASOR’s fiscal health, they also help to is published quarterly by the American Best wishes with the start of the fall, and broaden ASOR culturally and demographi- Schools of Oriental Research cally. Indeed, as he points out, ASOR has been another academic year, experiencing an important youth movement, © 2012 by The American Schools of Oriental Research with almost a third of our membership falling between the ages of 18 and 39. Gender and www.asor.org cultural diversity (and sensitivity) are also crit-
2 ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 ASOR Breaks Record Continued
continued from page 1 Your participation is needed in 2013! We are fortunate to • March Fellowship Madness: Individual ASOR members have some modest endowments that provide a crucial founda- make donations of any amount in March of each year to award tion for our summer fellowships and scholarships. For 2013, the additional scholarships. In 2012 this program was supported by Platt Endowment will provide about $13,000 of support, and the 78 individuals who gave more than $9,000 allowing ASOR to Harris Endowment will provide about $10,000 of funding (after award 9 more travel scholarships. several years of funds not being awarded due to the endowment • Additionally, anyone can make a gift of any amount to being “under water”). The remainder of the funds for summer our scholarship program at any time throughout the year. field scholarships comes from the generous support of friends and members. In order to reach our goal of 75 awards for 2013, In order to demonstrate the impact of ASOR’s fellowships, we we need more individuals to join our scholarship efforts on an are pleased to highlight the fellowship reports from the recipi- annual basis. You can help in any of the following ways: ents of the awards from 2012. We hope that you will read the reports and consider either giving a Heritage Gift ($2,500) or • Heritage Donations: Generous donors give $2,500 an- another amount to support our scholarship program for 2013. nually to ASOR to support two summer field scholar- Please contact me, Andy Vaughn, ASOR’s Executive Director, ships. This program accounted for 28 scholarships in 2012. at [email protected] or 617-353-6570 if you have any questions or suggestions.
Reports from Recipients of 2012 Summer Field Fellowships
it for dating. In three weeks, my teammates and I dug down 9 feet HERITAGE FELLOWSHIP REPORTS on one side and 12 feet on the other side of our assigned square. In the process, we uncovered a portion of the wall of the pool as well Stephane Beaulieu, Andrews University as a rock with an ink drawing on it. y 2012 ASOR Heritage Fellowship helped fund an op- However, the three weeks weren’t all hard, hot, and dusty portunity to spend three weeks in Jordan at Tall Jalul, near work. During the weekends, we toured Petra and visited other ar- MM a d a b a , chaeological sites in Jordan. I also experienced a variety of cul- where teams from tures and made new friends from Jordan, the United States, Puerto Andrews University Rico, Philippines, and Canada. have been excavat- Although my interest, as a doctoral candidate, is in the area ing for the past 20 of Old Testament exegesis, the ASOR Heritage Fellowship has years. As a first-time assisted in my quest to develop an understanding of what it means participant in an ar- to be a good archaeologist. I am grateful for the donor support that chaeological dig, it has allowed me to learn new skills related to my academic field. gave me the oppor- tunity to learn what Thomas Beyl, Hebrew Union College archaeologists do in the field. hanks to the ASOR Heritage Fellowship, I returned to Tel This year’s proj- Dan to continue supervising excavation activities begun in ect was to unearth T2008. The goal this season was to expand excavation of an more of the wall of undated gate structure previously discovered in 1993. In addition, a pool and its sur- I was able to explore the use of an RC quadcopter for tracking rounding structures excavation progress through aerial photography. that were discovered In the 3rd week of excavation we reached Iron II material, in a previous season. and discovered a very short course of stones abutting one of the Our day at the Tall towers of the gate structure to the east. This very short course of began at four o’clock in the morning and went until twelve thirty stones was only a meter in length, and there was no evidence of in the afternoon. After the noon meal, we washed pottery and read continuation. Preliminarily, it is believed this structure may have
ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 3 been a failed proj- The square that I excavated over the course of six weeks, ect to build a six with the help of two volunteers, was located in the northern end of chamber gate. Un- the mound, directly to the west of the six-chambered gate of the fortunately, we still site. The trapezoidal shaped “square” was bordered by part of the have no conclusive western wall of the gate as well as the inner casemate wall to the evidence for the north. This area of the Iron Age town is particularly interesting date of the gate’s for the massive and widespread destruction that took place here construction. sometime mid-first millennium; this destruction is evident in the In addition to ashy soil, burnt stone, and charred wooden beams found throughout digging, aerial pho- the gate complex. The area that I excavated was of particular inter- tos taken at the end est because of a unique mudbrick wall bisecting the square from of season enabled the north to the south. This wall is especially unusual because it is me to identify more the only wall of mudbrick found on the entire site and also for the elements of the gate use of chinkstones between the bricks of mud. Although the exact structure that had reason for an exterior mudbrick wall is still unknown, this unique been reused in later wall poses many interesting questions about the construction and Iron II walls, just architects of this Iron Age settlement. north of the gate During my two-month stay in Jordan, I fell deeper in love with towers. These ele- the country as well as the Near East as a whole. I am even more pas- ments have been sionate about archaeology in the area than ever before and have the clearly visible for Heritage Fellowship to thank for this incredible experience. more than 15 years, but their association with the gate structure was never realized. Micaela Carignano, Cornell University My first hand experience this season with RC based aerial pho- his summer, tography in the field, has opened my eyes to the value of this thanks to an technology for survey, recording and mapping purposes. I am cur- ASOR Heri- rently researching equipment software and techniques for the use T tage Fellowship, I of low level aerial photography combined with photogrammetry traveled to Cyprus to for future seasons. My gratitude to the ASOR Heritage Fellow- participate in the Ka- ship for making this experience possible. lavasos and Maroni Built Environments Stephanie Boonstra, Wilfrid Laurier University Project (KAMBE). hroughout my second field season at Khirbat al-Mudayna, The project, led near Madaba in Jordan, I learned a great deal about Near by Sturt Manning Eastern archaeology, the history and culture of the Hashemite of Cornell Univer- T sity and Kevin Fisher Kingdom of Jordan, as well as about myself. After participating as a volunteer during the 2010 field season of the Wadi ath-Thamad from the University project, which is run through Wilfrid Laurier University (where I of Arkansas, focus- am currently a student), I knew that I had to return. Thanks to the es on several Late Heritage Fellowship and the generous donations from members of Bronze Age sites in ASOR, I was given the opportunity to return this 2012 season as southern Cyprus. a square supervisor. Most of the research has involved the use of geophysical tech- niques to survey the landscapes surrounding previously excavated LBA sites. This season, I joined a group of students who worked alongside the geophysics team excavating some of the features that showed up in the survey data. We started our work at the site of Maroni- Tsaroukkas, which was excavated by the British Museum in 1897, and later in the 1990s by a team led by Dr. Manning. After some days of intense weeding to remove the thorny scrub that had grown since the last excavations, we opened small trenches immediately adjacent to those dug previously. This was difficult because the ex- cavators on the British Museum expedition had dotted the terrain with large pits in their search for intact ceramic vessels. We were able to work around the pits to some extent, however. In one trench where I worked, instead of finding the continuation of a Building 1 4 ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 wall, as we expected, we dug through a thick red clay deposit that a thorough excavation of the contents inside the storage jar, the contained some of the earliest ceramics on the site—an exciting bottom was reached, with no further significant findings. After find! Later we dug a test trench in a nearby hayfield, where we con- the exciting, though confusing removal of the large storage jar, firmed a feature found in the geophysics surveys. Throughout the the rest of my square was excavated down to a level of 1 meter, season we took turns helping to re-bag and re-tag dozens of crates and my final drawings were taken for the closure of the season. full of finds from previous excavations and surveys that had been stored in a rat-infested shed for years. This task culminated in an Caitlin Clerkin, University of Georgia exciting trip to deliver the artifacts to the Larnaca Archaeological Museum, where they will fare much better in the future. he Heritage Fellowship helped fund my participation in the I greatly enjoyed my experience on the KAMBE excavation 2012 excavation season at the site of Tel Kedesh, Israel, by and my first trip to Cyprus. It proved to be a beautiful island which Taiding coverage of my travel and room/board expenditures. I hope to revisit as I continue my graduate studies. I am extremely This current archaeological project at Tel Kedesh, located in Is- grateful to the generous donors to the Heritage Fellowship and to rael’s Upper Galilee, is directed by Sharon Herbert (U. of Michi- ASOR for helping me travel to Cyprus and participate in this project. gan) and Andrea Berlin (BU); the investigation is focused on the tel’s Persian-Hellenistic Administrative Building, the “PHAB.” Christine Chitwood, Andrews University
participated in excavations at Khirbat Ataruz during the dates of June 6 through June 17, 2012, in partial funding by my accep- I tance of the 2012 Heritage Fellowship. Ataruz is a site situated along the Dead Sea, known to scholars for its Iron Age inhabitants and large temple complex. Under the direction of Dr. Chang Ho Ji, as well as that of my field supervisor, Dr. Robert Bates, my responsibility for this season’s excavation was to open a square on the north side of the site, where evidence of walled structures could be seen from the surface level, suggesting a relationship
During this short season, which was my second season of ar- chaeological fieldwork as well as my second at Kedesh, I began the season assisting in the trench of another graduate student/ supervisor. However, as the season progressed, I oversaw the excavation of a trench in the northeast portion of the PHAB; I was tasked with investigating the eastern extent of the PHAB’s northern outer wall. In addition to this wall, my trench yielded several rubble pits, three late (relative to the date of the PHAB) human burials in the line of the aforementioned wall, and a great deal of pottery, which I, along with my fellow excavators, washed, sorted, and tallied up daily. This was my first “gig” as a supervisor; as such, it made for exciting and intense hands-on with the previously excavated temple complex. Immediately it was training and practice in excavation, management, and interpreta- evident that I was excavating part of a wall (Wall 5), which was tion of a trench. subsequently followed by two more walls. Following the walls, I More than just providing me a venue for practical skill-set moved to the western side of the initial wall that was discovered, training, my season at Kedesh exposed me directly to research in where after a high volume of rubble removal, it was evident that one of my research interests, Phoenico-Punic identity, as well as more wall structures would reveal more detail to the functions of to the expertise and perspectives of archaeologists much further this area of the temple complex. along in their graduate school and/or professional careers than My fellow workers and I discovered a nearly whole, though myself, an MA candidate in Classics. As such, the financial sup- broken, vessel that suggests a rather baffling purpose. The jar had port provided by ASOR’s Heritage Fellowship enabled me this been lined completely around the inside with stones, then filled summer to have practice in the nuts and bolts of fieldwork, an to the brim with sterile soil. We wondered that perhaps the stones occasion to actively engage my research interests, and a valu- had fallen into the jar (demonstrated in the initial lack of rims) but able opportunity for professional development and insight into after removing several of the stones inside the jar, the rims were archaeology and academia. discovered. Further perplexing was the second “ring” of pottery sherds located within the jar, suggesting that the storage jar con- tained not only the stone lining, but a second vessel as well. After ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 5 Emily Coate, University of Toronto Shane Edwards, Claremont Graduate University
he generosity of those behind the ASOR Heritage Fellow- he earliest possible appearance (early bronze-2200 BCE) of ship afforded me my first opportunity to dig at a Near East- the name for Acre is in the archives of Ebla, a city in Syria. Tern site. I participated in the excavations at Tell Tayinat, a TIn addition, an Egyptian mention of Akko was dated to 1800 settlement occupied during the Early Bronze and Iron Ages locat- BCE. However, it is during the middle bronze age (2000-1550 BCE) ed in southern Turkey near the Syrian border. You may have heard that the Akko Tel becomes an important regional hub of commerce, the name in the news recently, owing to the discovery of a couple which continued (at greater or lesser levels) through the early Hel- impressive statues this season. Particularly noteworthy is the lenistic period (332 BCE). head and torso of King Suppiluliuma, with a Hieroglyphic Luwian inscription across his back. I worked su- pervising a square currently in an Iron Age context. We were fortunate enough to uncover many interesting finds and signifi- cant architectural features, includ- ing clay figurines, loom weights, tabuns, and mud Moshe Dothan (University of Haifa) and Diethelm Conrad brick wall remains. (Marburg University, Germany) performed excavations of the Akko Having previously tel between 1973 and 1989. Unfortunately, very little documenta- only excavated in tion exists from the first series of excavations and no final reports the Midwestern have been published. United States, I I was assigned to Section OO/20, which is loosely believed found tracing the to overlap with Dothan’s section O/20. Dothan’s O/20 is believed mud brick lines to have excluded approximately the top two meters of the north beneath our feet to be a new challenge—surely different than end of section OO/20. Due to multiple seasons and lack of clear the posthole residues with which I had become accustomed. strategy of the Dothan excavations, remains from numerous strata And coming from sites where we were excited to find a handful were exposed. Our initial short term goal was the gradual “phasing” of sherds, the amount of pottery we unearthed at Tayinat never of previously excavated portions of OO/20, in the hope to link up ceased to amaze me. with Dothan’s excavation plan and the systematic new excavation Along with the excavations, the experience itself is not one of the six feet northern end of the square. By the end of the 2012 I will soon forget. Our team arrived at site with the dawn every excavation in OO/20, we felt we had a reasonable understanding of morning, scooped the frogs out of our squares that had wandered Dathan’s grid system and how it links to the current grid system in in during the night, and prepared for another blisteringly hot day. OO/20. I quickly found that the experienced local workers’ abilities and The 2011 excavation in square OO/20 exposed a rock familiarity with the area offered a great conduit to improving foundation that is believed to be built during the late Iron Age my own excavation techniques. Even with our limited Turkish (which we later determined extends into areas to the west of vocabulary, they were always willing and effective teachers. OO/20). The foundation of the Iron Age wall is believed to sup- The people in the nearby villages we had the opportunity to port what is likely an early Persian Age wall, anchored by ash- get to know, the places we visited, the food we ate, and the mix lars. The ashlars are approximately 25 cm width, 30 cm height of Arab and Turkish culture we experienced made the summer and 50 cm length. By the end of the 2012 we are not able to de- all the more remarkable. termine the depth of all the ashlar walls. However, where ashlar Knowing that the work we accomplished this summer adds walls were excavated to the bottom, significant broken pottery inch by inch toward a better understanding of the lives, economy, was found under the ashlars. The late Iron Age rock wall con- and industry of the people who inhabited the area so long ago sists of smaller rocks of varying dimensions weighing from 5 lbs makes me all the more grateful for the chance to be a part of to 30 lbs. In the two meter northern end of the square we continue to the Tayinat excavations, and to the Heritage donors who made excavate significant whole broken, but restorable, jars and bowls so it possible. we do not believe we have reached the floor (i.e. living elevation). continued on page 31
6 ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 Development Update
berships and subscriptions, but we Andrew G. Vaughn would not be able to do the work ASOR Executive Director that we do without your participa- tion and partnership. Thank you! REACHED e t did i (again)! In 2011 we exceeded expectations and The ASOR board once again Trta ge 282 280 reached a new record of 235 donors. This year we raised led the way in our development ef- Wour sights even higher and set a goal of 280 donors for the fort, and we had 100% participation 2012 fiscal year (ended June 30, 2012). Thanks to the 282 different for the third straight year. In addi- donors (see the 2012 Honor Roll) who stepped up for ASOR, we sur- tion to generous support from Bos- passed our goal and had an extremely successful year in development. ton University, board members Ste- We were successful both in terms of total dollars raised ($196,000 van Dana, W. Mark Lanier, and P. E. MacAllister set the pace with five- figure contributions. As a group, the board contributed $124,000 of our 300 $196,000 raised last year. The dol- lars raised came from a broad group 282 of supporters. We had ten additional 250 people and institutions make contri- butions of $5,000 or more, another 235 25 individuals contributed $1,000 or more, and yet another 25 200 contributed $500 or more. In short, ASOR’s success in develop- 188 ment is a team effort, and all gifts are meaningful. The following is a list of some of the highlights made possible by your generous 150 support: • We once again finished the year with a balanced budget. 118 • The Chairs Coordinating Council was formed and began 100 meeting in FY12, providing more effective member leadership over our academic programs. • We received $196,000 in total giving. 50 • Our endowment for operations grew to a record $480,000 (more than double from six years ago despite some challenging years in the stock market). 0 • A record 822 people registered for our 2011 FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 annual meeting in San Francisco. • We will have more than 450 paper presentations compared to $160,000 in 2011) and in terms of participation. The at the 2012 annual meeting in Chicago. success is even more dramatic when we compare ourselves to other • We awarded 42 scholarships for fieldwork during the sum- learned societies. Many other societies consider their development mer of 2012 from an unprecedented pool of 187 applicants. efforts a success if they reach a 1-in-50 ratio for charitable gifts by members. Thanks to the loyal participation of our members, almost • March Fellowship Madness resulted in 76 people 1-in-5 ASOR members made a gift in FY12. giving more than $9,000—that meant that we ASOR members often ask me why we need the annual fund. I awarded nine additional scholarships! am able to respond succinctly: membership and subscription rev- • We launched a social media initiative that has enues only account for 37% of our annual revenue, so these gifts been extremely successful. play a critical role in enabling us to carry out our mission, to give • We have had more than 600,000 hits on the ASOR Blog scholarships, and to do public outreach. This past year we were (asorblog.org) in the last six months; we now have extremely successful in all of those areas. We awarded a record 42 had over 1 million hits over the life of the blog. scholarships to students and junior scholars for fieldwork during • The ASOR Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/asor.org) the summer of 2012 (a remarkable increase from three scholar- is updated daily with new content, and we now have ships awarded seven years ago). We have doubled our scholar- almost 2,000 ”likes.” ships to the annual meeting, and we are expanding our publication • ASOR’s prestigious Mesopotamian Fellowship program program (e.g., BASOR is now being published in color). ASOR’s continues, and we have continued to award scholarships annual fund does not account for all of our revenue beyond mem- for Mesopotamian research at the annual meeting. continued on next page
ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 7 Development Update Continued continued from previous page
• Scholarships for the annual meeting have been expanded. • We switched our book distribution services to ISD • Our individual membership reached a record 1,530 in FY12 Distributers, and we now offer prepublication (up from 1,400 in FY11 and 1,050 six years ago). prices to our members. • Our institutional subscriptions grew for a second straight year • BASOR is now published in color. following the recession and cutbacks from libraries. • Last, but certainly not least, all of our journals • Our journals (all the way back to 1920) are now available (BASOR, JCS, and NEA) are once again up-to-date online on JSTOR, and our members who choose the online at the end of the fiscal year. subscription have unparalleled access. As stated above, these highlights and accomplishments • Our archives project is making the Boston headquarters would not have been possible without the generous support of a research destination. our members. Thank you! ASOR will once again be conserva- • We had 67 affiliated excavation projects (33 field tive with expenses and spending, but we need your continued and 34 publication) in countries throughout the participation and partnership. We are poised to move to eastern Mediterranean. even greater levels in 2013. While we celebrate all that we • We continued to support the publication of site reports through accomplished in FY12, your ongoing partnership and support will the ASOR Annual and the Archaeological Report Series. help us to accomplish our goals in FY13—ASOR’s 113th year.
fiscal Year 2012 Honor Roll
Donor o (up t $100) Marian Feldman Sandy Mermelstein Contributor ($100-$249) Mary Alice and Randy Akers Paul Flesher Emily Miller Bonney George and Peggy Ackerman Nathanael Andrade Peter Flint Zakariya Nassar Na’imat Henry M. Addkison Carolina Aznar Terri Grace Foster James F. Osborne Ann H. Allison Jose E. Balcells Robert S. Fritzius Alice Petty William S. Andreas Adam Bean Kathryn Gleason Bezalel Porten Bill Arnold Leigh-Ann Bedal Marylinda Govaars Jennifer Ramsay Brenda Baker John W. Betlyon Elizabeth Greene Bruce Routledge Ralph Lamar Barden Phil Bettis William W. Hallo Karen Rubinson Dianne Benton Robert C. Bigelow Rachel Hallote Nerissa Russell Andrew P. Bridges Elizabeth Bloch-Smith Rick Hauser Richard Sarason Ursula Burkhard Dina Boero Kelley Herlihy William Schniedewind Frances Cahill Oded Borowski Richard S. Hess H. Katherine Sheeler Jane Cahill West Alejandro Botta Jan Horowitz Edward Silver Elizabeth F. Carter Robin M. Brown Mara Horowitz Kathryn Simonsen Jill Chernin Sarah Dorsey Bollinger James Jang Daegyu Joanna S. Smith Henry Christensen Christina Bucher Ann Johnston Scott Starbuck Dan P. Cole Theodore Burgh Taadjel Samson Kagmatche Charles Sundmacher Teofilo Correa Annemarie Weyl Carr Hoo-Goo Kang Aaron Tugendhaft Judith Crabb Mark A. Chancey Trudy Kawami Valentine Volk Sidnie White Crawford Zuzana Chovanec Emma Kerr James L. Walker P. M. Daviau W. Malcolm Clark Gary Knoppers Patty Jo Watson Jean M. Davison Kelley Coblentz Bautch Wade Kotter Richard E. Whitaker Bert and Sally DeVries Margaret Cohen Thomas H. Laity Donald Whitcomb Kenneth M. Diable Brian A. Coussens Justin Leidwanger Bryan Wilkins Robert Dolle John D. Darst Jodi Magness Donald Williford Catherine Duff Helen Dixon Giorgia Marchiori Ian D. Wilson Sally S. Dunham Louise and Arthur Durlesser Sheila E. McGinn John D. Wineland Anne M. Dunn Asa Eger Linda Meiberg Angeliki Zisi Erick Egertson
8 ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 Fiscal Year 2012 Honor Roll Continued
Carl Ehrlich Haiman Mordechai Barry M. Gittlen Timothy Harrison Brian Facemire Megan Bishop Moore James W. Hardin Brauna Hartzell and Jeffrey Blakely Linda G. Feinstone Roger and Ethel Nelson Norma Kershaw Donald Kramer Weston Fields David Norris Laura Mazow George M. Landes Marjorie M. Fisher Steven M. Ortiz Richard Natarian Christopher MacAllister Jack Forbus Efe Ozkan Donald B. Redford Annabel S. Perlik Catherine Foster Jane C. Waldbaum Sandy MacAllister R. Michael Friends Kevin Perrotta James Weinstein Malcolm Hewitt Weiner Steven J. Garfinkle John T. Poss J. Edward Wright Foundation Seymour Gitin Dragoljub Radovic George E. Mendenhall Richard C. Godfrey Johannes Renz Sustainer ($500-$999) Angela Goodwin Austin and Norma Ritterspach Orlyn and Deana Nelson Matthew J. Adams Claire Gottlieb John F. Robertson Thomas R. Pickering Gary Arbino Mark D. Green Francesca Rochberg David Rosenstein Laird Barber Roy C. Green Christopher Rollston Jeffrey Chadwick B. W. Ruffner Carl Guzzo Christopher Roosevelt and Jane DeRose Evans R. Thomas and Marilyn Schaub Robert Haak Christina Luke Fawwaz Habbal Jennifer Ross Nili Fox Audrey Shaffer Jo Ann Hackett Alice Roth Paul J. Gaylo Harva L. Sheeler Stephen Savage Lawrence T. Geraty David Hall James F. and Carolyn Strange Blanche and Danny Hardin Denise Schmandt-Besserat Joseph Greene Silas and Catherine Vaughn Myron Harrison Mark Schuler Eleanor Guralnick Melissa Haury Ryland and Carol Scott Gary Hendrick Joseph J. Weinstein Kevin Hayes Donald C. Seeley Sharon Herbert Barbara Heineck Hershel Shanks Morag Kersel Friend ($5,000-$9,999) Jennifer Helbley Susan Sheridan Ann-Marie Knoblauch Anonymous William Simon Ellen Herscher Oystein LaBianca Richard and Sonya Coffman Marilyn P. Hodgson Elizabeth Simpson Dale W. Manor David Berg Foundation John R. Spencer Paul S. Holdorf Robert and Hanan Mullins Kenneth G. Holum Richard A. Stogner Davidson College Beth Alpert Nakhai David Ilan Lawson Grant Stone Sheldon Fox Barbara A. Porter Walter Jacob Olin J. Storvick Eric and Carol Meyers Suzanne Richard Martha Sharp Joukowsky Dale Swindell Lydie Shufro Robert and Teresa Johnston Oden James F. Joyner Stuart Swiny Gough Thompson Joe D. Seger Donald Kane Norman M. Tayler Christopher A. Tuttle KDI Capital Partners James Turner Andy and Amy Vaughn Edward Koskie Eugene Ulrich K. Lawson Younger The George Washington University John Lee R. Stewart Vaughn Randall Younker Goetz Lingenthal Stephen Von Wyrick Patron ($10,000-$19,999) Carolyn Waldron Sponsor ($1,000-$4,999) Peter Machinist Stevan B. Dana Sturt W. Manning Bethany J. Walker Elie M. Abemayor Bob Massie James C. Wright Susan Ackerman Benefactor ($20,000 or more) Gerald Mattingly Sheila Bishop Boston University Byron McCane Supporter ($250-$499) (Foundation for Biblical Archaeology) Michael Dick W. Mark Lanier Law Firm Andrew McCarthy Vivian and Robert Bull Anne McKinney Dehnisch Jennie Ebeling P. E. MacAllister Laurie and Charles Davis Eugene H. Merrill Raymond Ewing William R. Millar Paul Fitzpatrick Peggy Duly Robert E. Mittelstaedt Ernest S. Frerichs Juergen Friede
ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 9 Election for The ASOR Board, Class of 2015
ach year, ASOR’s membership has the opportunity to vote for some members of the Board of Trustees. There are two types of trustees who are elected for three-year terms at the annual ASOR membership meeting: a) individual Etrustees; and b) institutional trustees. Each year, two individual trustees are elected by all ASOR members who are present at the membership meeting. Likewise, two institutional trustees are elected by those institutional representatives of ASOR member schools who attend the membership meeting. These elections are important for ASOR, and thus your attendance at the membership meeting is crucial. To read more about the responsibilities of the ASOR Board of Trustees, see Article III of the ASOR by-laws (http://www.asor.org/about/bylaws.html).
This year, eight candidates are running for four positions on the Board. Four (Ackerman, Gittlen, Knoblauch and Younker) are running for reelection, while the four others (Charaf, Danti, Duff and Hawkins) are new candidates. Three candidates (Ackerman, Gittlen and Younker) are running for the two institutional positions. Five candidates (Charaf, Danti, Duff, Hawkins and Knoblauch) are running for the two individual positions.
Voting will take place at the Membership Meeting held during the annual meeting on Friday, Nov. 16, from 7:00-8:15 A.M. Please visit the ASOR home page (www.asor.org) for a link that contains information on each candidate, their many contributions to the field of Near Eastern archaeology and to ASOR, and their visions for ASOR. Then, come and vote!
Respectfully submitted, Beth Alpert Nakhai Chair, ASOR Board Nominations Committee
ASOR Announces New Assistant Treasurer
SOR is pleased to announce the appointment Richard is a native Texan who spent his forma- of Richard L. Coffman as our new Assistant tive years in Houston. He graduated from Texas Lu- ATreasurer. Coffman will serve in that capac- theran University in 1978 with a B.A. in accounting ity through the end of the calendar year and then and the University of Texas at Austin in 1980 with a succeed Sheldon Fox as our Treasurer on January Master in Professional Accounting with a specialty 1, 2013 (Fox is completing his second three-year in taxation. After graduate school, Richard worked term as Treasurer). The Officers’ Nominations Com- with two international Big 8 public accounting firms mittee and the ASOR Board both unanimously and in Seattle, Houston and Austin. He also taught ac- enthusiastically elected Coffman, and we are most counting as an adjunct member of the faculties of the fortunate to have someone of his ability and training University of Washington and University of Texas as our Treasurer elect. business schools. Coffman is a Certified Public Accountant who After working as a CPA for several years, Rich- is also a trial lawyer and managing partner of the ard returned to the University of Texas at Austin Coffman Law Firm in Beaumont, Texas. The Coffman Law Firm where he received his law degree in 1989. During law school, he represents individuals and businesses across Texas and through- met and married Sonya, who also is a CPA, an accomplished trial out the United States in complex commercial litigation, class ac- lawyer, and his partner at the Coffman Law Firm. Richard is ac- tions and mass actions. Richard’s litigation practice is focused in tive in civic and charitable organizations. In addition to serving as the areas of antitrust, ERISA, data breach, theft of trade secrets, the Assistant Treasurer of ASOR, he is currently serving as Vice- intellectual property, civil RICO, agriculture, consumer cases, Chairman of the Board of Beaumont Crime Stoppers. Richard and and general business disputes. Sonya have one daughter, Carson, who is a sophomore at Washing- ton & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. 10 ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 Call for Nominations for Election of Officers of the ASOR Corporation
he Officers Nominations Committee of the American Schools of Oriental Research announces a General Call for Candidates for service as Officers of the Corporation. Nominating an officer is an important way for mem- Tbers to speak into the governance of their organization, and we encourage you to nominate and participate!
Two positions are currently open for nominations:
President of ASOR: Nominations should include the candidate’s name, the leads the organization, supervises the Executive Director, position for which the candidate is nominated, a one- and is the public face of ASOR. paragraph academic biography (including membership and activities in ASOR), a brief statement as to why the candidate Secretary of ASOR: would be appropriate for the position, and the candidate’s responsible for providing minutes of all meetings of the contact information. corporation and acts as custodian of the official records of ASOR Self-nominations are encouraged and should include the same information as well as a brief vision statement describing why Inquiries should be addressed to Gary Arbino (GaryArbino@ the candidate is interested in the office. ggbts.edu), Chair of the Officers Nominations Committee. The other members of the committee are Carol Meyers, Christopher Rollston, Joe Seger, and Susan Sheridan.
Call for Nominations and Applications for Election of the President of ASOR
The Officers Nominations Committee of ASOR announces a general call for nominations and applications for individuals to be considered for the position of President of the Corporation. The term of office for this position is three years beginning January 1, 2014. A general description of the Office of President and its responsibilities is given in the ASOR Bylaws, available at http://www. asor.org/about/mission-statement.html, (click on “Bylaws”, especially Article IV, Section 6). The President is expected to attend all appropriate meetings of the corporation and be available for other travel as necessary.
Nominations should be submitted via e-mail to Gary Arbino ([email protected]), Chair of the Officers Nominations Commit- tee. Review of applications and nominations will begin on October 15, 2012 and continue until the position is filled. The Officers Nominations Committee expects to present a nominee for President to the ASOR Board for a vote at either the November 2012 meet- ing or the Board’s April 2013 meeting in Indianapolis, IN.
Call for Nominations and Applications for Election of the Secretary of ASOR
The Officers Nominations Committee of ASOR announces a general call for nominations and applications for individuals to be con- sidered for the position of Secretary of ASOR. The term of office for this position is three years beginning January 1, 2013. A general description of the Office of Secretary and its responsibilities is given in the ASOR Bylaws, available at http://www.asor.org/about/ mission-statement.html, (click on “Bylaws”, especially Article IV, Section 10). The Secretary is expected to attend all appropriate meetings of the corporation.
Nominations should be submitted via e-mail to Gary Arbino ([email protected]), Chair of the Officers Nominations Commit- tee. Review of applications and nominations will begin on September 30, 2012 and continue until the position is filled. The Officers Nominations Committee expects to present a nominee for Secretary to the ASOR Board for a vote at the November 18 Board meeting in Chicago, IL. ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 11 ASOR Membership Report
Kevin Cooney and 39. This youth movement within the membership is necessary in order for ASOR’s mission to exist in posterity. For a complete Director of Membership and Publication Services breakdown of membership age demographics please see figure 2. While ASOR may be getting younger the organization continues to embership in ASOR has been at record levels for the last be dominated by professional members (figure 3). Approximately two years surpassing the 1500 mark this past March. 69% of our members fall into this category followed by graduate MDuring this time we have seen a steady growth of about students at 18%, interested enthusiasts at 12%, and undergraduates 8% annually. Increased participation at the Annual Meeting, mem- at 2%. In the past two years the percentage of members identify- bership drives, a new e-journal subscription option, and improved ing themselves as students has increased just 2%, while interested customer service are the primary catalysts for this growth. We are enthusiasts have increased by 6%. very pleased that ASOR has continued to grow during a period in which membership in many learned societies has decreased due to In order to continue growing at the current rate ASOR will the tough economic climate (figure 1). have to increase the number of non-professional members. In the next year we have several direct mailing, email, and social media More members mean more resources for ASOR’s mission of campaigns scheduled that are designed to appeal to enthusiasts and promoting scholarship in the Near East. This year alone members students. These include a Contributing membership drive, monthly have helped: blog themes, and increasing use of Facebook and Twitter. • send 42 researchers to the Near East Given the large number of self-described professional mem- • digitize the archived Shechem excavation collection bers it comes as no surprise that the most popular of our actual • publish BASOR in color for the first time membership categories is the Professional type (figure 4). Ap- • transition to JSTOR as a host for all of our electronic content proximately 52% of our members fall under this type, with Stu- • increase our web presence via our blog and Facebook page dent and Retired following at 19% and 10% respectively. Of all • set an attendance record at the 2011 Annual Meeting types more and more members are electing the e-journal option We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our mem- instead of receiving print copies. Currently 46 percent of our bers who have made the past year so successful, especially the 76 members access our journals online through JSTOR (figure 5). donors who contributed to our March Fellowship Madness cam- We believe this trend will continue. Electing the e-journal op- paign! The growth of ASOR membership these past two years has tion is not only environmentally friendly but also helps us cut the added effect of increasing the organizations cultural and demo- down on printing costs, decreasing the cost of publication and graphic diversity. We believe both are necessary for a sustainable freeing up valuable financial resources that can be put to good healthy organization. use elsewhere. ASOR has gotten younger as our membership has grown in the Membership in ASOR is also geographically diverse. Al- past two years. In December of 2010 approximately 37% of our most a quarter of our members are from outside the US, with members were over 60 years old, today that number has dropped Canada, Israel, and the UK as the top three international homes. to 31%. In fact 28% of our members are between the ages of 18 ASOR has members in 42 countries around the world! Such a
ASOR Membership Count (figure 1) Membership by Age Group 1550 (figure 2) 1500 18-29 1450 8% 1400 60+ 30-39 1350 31% 20% 1300 1250 1200 40-49 50-59 18% 1150 23% 1100
2012 6/1/2010 8/1/2010 2/1/2011 4/1/2011 6/1/2011 8/1/2011 2/1/2012 4/1/2012 6/1/2012 10/1/2010 12/1/2010 10/1/2011 12/1/2011
12 ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 ASOR Membership Report Continued large international contingent assures cultural diversity and Membership by Category (figure 4) helps keep ASOR from becoming ethnocentrically American. The one glaring absence in these statistics are male/female 3% demographics. Unfortunately, we have not collected data on the 8% Associate Member Count sex of our members to date. However, we are planning a survey 6% 2% 19% Contributing Member Count of our membership in the coming months to rectify this issue. For years our benefit structure has largely been geared toward the Life Member Count needs of the professional member without considering age or sex. 10% Professional Count Going forward we must alter that approach to ensure we meet the unique needs of both our male and female members. The number Retired Count of professional women working in the Near East has skyrocketed 52% Student Count over the last decade and we want ASOR to be a valuable resource for them and future generations of female scholars and interested enthusiasts. To that end a session on the role of women in ASOR has been planned for the upcoming Annual Meeting. As part of Professional, Student, and Retired the session the ASOR staff will outline some potential future Members by Subscription Type resources geared specifically toward our female members. One of the proposed ideas is an interactive map of female members, (figure 5) their research interests and current projects. We hope this will be 11% a valuable tool for female students looking for mentors, and pro- Print and Electronic fessionals hoping to network. Additionally, we hope the map can Electronic Only be used to identify any gender gaps in research by location and 54% time period. We hope you will join us in Chicago for this session, 35% Print Only which will hopefully inspire a healthy debate and give us the in- sight we need to move forward. This brief report evidences an increase in the number and di- versity of our membership. We are happy with the results of the last two years but by no means satisfied. We hope our continued work will sustain growth while increasing ASOR’s influence on Near Eastern Scholarship.
Membership by Identity (figure 3) 80% 70%
60%
50%
40% 30%
20%
10% 0 Undergraduate Graduate Professional Interested Enthusiast
ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 13 14 ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 ASOR Continues Going Social
Month will follow in October, with scholars posting on a range Jennifer Fitzgerald of heritage-issues, from the illegal antiquities trade to community Publications Assistant and Membership Specialist outreach and collaboration. If you are interested in organizing a future themed month on the blog let us know! We’d love to hear SOR launched an exciting social media initiative in March any proposed topics or answer any questions you might have about 2012. Our goal was to make the ASOR Facebook page themed months or the blog. A(www.facebook.com/ASOR.org) and the ASOR Blog The ASOR Facebook Page also experienced dramatic growth! (asorblog.org) key online destinations for anyone interested in the In addition to sharing archaeology news, we post important Eastern Mediterranean. After eight months, the initiative has been items that come to our attention (e.g., job and scholarship a resounding success and is still going strong. announcements). Our announcements about free trial access to The ASOR Blog has seen a dramatic increase in traffic. We NEA and BASOR through JSTOR were great hits, generating reached 1 million hits in September, and we have had over 20,000 a large number of new “likes” for our page. As always, pictures unique visitors from more than 90 countries since March. Many from ASOR’s Archives have remained favorites. If you have of our visitors have returned time and again to read new posts. In any archaeology news, job, scholarship, grant or conference addition to the ever-popular weekly archaeology news roundup, announcements, or new publications you think would be of we have added blog posts from ASOR fellowship recipients who interest to ASOR members, please share them on our Facebook discuss their life-changing experiences in the field. We invite you page or email them to Jenn Fitzgerald at [email protected]. to go online and read all of these posts under the “Scholarships” If you have not done so, please like the ASOR Facebook page (www facebook.com/asor.org). ASOR has recently moved into another area of social media, Twitter. Twitter users can now follow us at https://twitter.com/AmerSchOrietRes where we will be posting links to blog articles and news items. Also, if you would like to Tweet about the upcoming Annual Meeting you can use the hashtag #asor12 and make sure to Tweet at us @ AmerSchOrietRes. So far the first eight months of the social media initiative has been a great success! In the coming months we plan to continue engaging with members and providing interesting new content on the ASOR Blog, Facebook, and now Twitter. Check back often to make sure you stay up to date on the latest news and announcements.
category, or view them by the country where they worked by clicking on the tag for each country in the sidebar. Building on the success of the fellowship posts, this fall the ASOR Blog introduced posts from directors of CAP-affiliated field projects. The directors describe their most recent fieldwork and present overviews of their sites. We welcome additional contributions from directors of field projects. Please email [email protected] with blog submissions or questions. Themed months have also returned to the blog this fall. September is Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls month with posts from leading scholars about the Dead Sea Scrolls and the archaeology of Qumran. Cultural Heritage
ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 15 Crowdsourced
elow is a photograph from the ASOR Archives that shows some men doing … something. Even though the tools look like they are intended for a specific purpose, we couldn’t figure out what they are up to. We took it to the ASOR Facebook page Bto see if any of our 1,800+ fans had any thoughts. Check out the discussion that ensued.
The information from Maya, Rawad, and Reem will be added to our photo database. Want to join the discussion, receive updates on what’s new in archaeology, and hear what’s happening at ASOR? “Like” the American Schools of Oriental Research on Facebook.
16 ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 ASOR Outreach Committee Honored with Partnership in Conservation Award
ASOR’s Annual Meetings. One of our most successful work- Ellen D. Bedell shops was held at Harvard’s Semitic Museum in 2008. I have ASOR Outreach Committee (Former Chair) posted a picture of teachers, working on Project Archaeology lessons, at this ASOR sponsored workshop. Next November, the roject Archaeology, a program developed by the Bureau ASOR Outreach Committee will hold another ASOR affiliated of Land Management (BLM) and currently affiliated with teachers’ workshop at the University of Chicago’s Oriental In- PMontana State University, won a Secretary of the Interior’s stitute. At these workshops, we use lesson plans developed by Partnership in Conservation Award in 2011. ASOR recently re- ASOR members and Project Archaeology lessons to teach ba- ceived a certificate signed by Ken Salazar, the Secretary of the sic concepts in archaeology and archaeological ethics. Teachers, Interior, recognizing the ASOR Outreach Committee as a partner who are not usually trained in archaeology, take these important in this award. lessons back to their classrooms to inspire their students. The
Stefanie Elkins and Ellen Bedell teach a lesson in a 2008 workshop for teachers working on Project Archaeology lessons at Harvard’s Semitic Museum
Project Archaeology, a program developed by the Bureau of BLM lessons were designed specifically to encourage teachers Land Management (BLM) and currently affiliated with Montana and their students to appreciate and protect our cultural heritage. State University, won a Secretary of the Interior’s Partnership in ASOR’s sponsorship of teachers’ workshops enables Project Conservation Award in 2011. ASOR recently received a certifi- Archaeology to distribute materials and provide professional de- cate signed by Ken Salazar, the Secretary of the Interior, recog- velopment to educators and their students throughout the nation. nizing the ASOR Outreach Committee as a partner in this award. This is very important community engagement. On behalf of the Members of the ASOR Outreach Committee, currently Outreach Committee, I would like to congratulate ASOR for the headed by Stefanie Elkins and Neal Bierling, have used Proj- organizations continued commitment to archaeology education ect Archaeology materials in teachers’ workshops held during at all levels.
ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 17 The American Center Of Oriental Research (AMMAN) Announcement Of Fellowships 2013-2014
Deadline for all applications is February 1, 2013
National Endowment for the Bert and Sally de Vries Fellowship: Humanities (NEH) Fellowship: One award of $1,200 to support a student for participation on an One to two awards of four to six months for scholars who have a archaeological project or research in Jordan. Senior project staff Ph.D. or have completed their professional training. Fields of re- members whose expenses are being borne largely by the project search include: modern and classical languages, linguistics, litera- are ineligible. Open to enrolled undergraduate or graduate stu- ture, history, jurisprudence, philosophy, archaeology, comparative dents of any nationality except Jordanian. religion, ethics, and the history, criticism, and theory of the arts. Social and political scientists are encouraged to apply. Applicants Harrell Family Fellowship: must be U.S. citizens or foreign nationals living in the U.S. three One award of $1,800 to support a graduate student for partici- years immediately preceding the application deadline. The award pation on an archaeological project or research in Jordan. Senior for six months is $25,200. Awards must be used between May 15, project staff members whose expenses are being borne largely by 2013 and December 31, 2014. the project are ineligible. Open to enrolled graduate students of any nationality except Jordanian. ACOR-CAORC Post-Graduate Fellowship: Two or more two- to six-month fellowships for post-doctoral Pierre and Patricia Bikai Fellowship: scholars and scholars with a terminal degree in their field, pursuing Two awards for one month each or one two-month award for research or publication projects in the natural and social sciences, residency at ACOR in Amman. It is open to enrolled graduate stu- humanities, and associated disciplines relating to the Near East. dents of any nationality except Jordanian participating in an ar- U.S. citizenship required. Maximum award is $31,800. Awards chaeological project or conducting archaeological work in Jordan. must be used between May 15, 2013 and December 31, 2014. The fellowship includes room and board at ACOR and a monthly stipend of $600. ACOR-CAORC Fellowship: Two or more two- to six-month fellowships for masters and doc- MacDonald/Sampson Fellowship: toral students. Fields of study include all areas of the humanities Oneaward for either six weeks residency at ACOR for research in and the natural and social sciences. Topics should contribute to the fields of Ancient Near Eastern languages and history, archaeol- scholarship in Near Eastern studies. U.S. citizenship required. ogy, Bible studies, or comparative religion, or a travel grant to as- Maximum award is $22,600. Awards must be used between May sist with participation in an archaeological field project in Jordan. 15, 2013 and December 31, 2014. The ACOR residency fellowship option includes room and board at ACOR and a stipend of $600. The travel grant option provides ACOR Publication Fellowship: a single payment of $1,800 to help with any project related ex- One award of three to four months for senior scholars or advanced penses. Both options are open to enrolled undergraduate or gradu- graduate students pursuing a publication project in the fields of ate students of Canadian citizenship or landed immigrant status. Jordanian archaeology, anthropology, cultural resource manage- ment, or history with the goal of completing a final publication. James A. Sauer Fellowship: Open to all nationalities. Maximum award of $19,000 includes One award for one month residency at ACOR. It is open to en- residency at ACOR in Amman. The award will be prorated ac- rolled graduate students of U.S. or Canadian citizenship partici- cordingly if ACOR residency or international travel is not re- pating on an archaeological project or research in Jordan. The fel- quired. This research must be undertaken in Jordan. The award is lowship includes room and board at ACOR and a stipend of $400. subject to funding and it must be used between May 15, 2013 and December 31, 2014. Kenneth W. Russell Fellowship: Jennifer C. Groot Fellowship: One award of $1,800 to support a graduate student for participation in an ACOR-approved archaeological research project, which has Two or more awards of $1,800 each to support beginners in archaeo- passed an academic review process. Senior project staff members logical fieldwork who have been accepted as team members on ar- whose expenses are being borne largely by the project are ineligi- chaeological projects with ASOR/CAP affiliation in Jordan. Open to ble. For this cycle the competition is closed to Jordanian students, undergraduate or graduate students of U.S. or Canadian citizenship. but open to enrolled graduate students of all other nationalities.
18 ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 The American Center Of Oriental Research (AMMAN) Announcement Of Fellowships 2013-2014
Kenneth W. Russell Annual Tawjihi Prize: CONTACT INFORMATION: Annual prizes for the male and female students from Umm Say- ACOR 656 Beacon Street, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02215 houn (Petra Region) who achieve the highest score on the yearly TEL.: 617–353–6571; Fax: 617–353–6575; Tawjihi examination. The award for each student is 200 Jordanian Email: [email protected]) or Dinars ($280).. MAIL: Frederick-Wenger Jordanian Educational Fellowship: ACOR P.O. Box 2470, Amman 11181, Jordan One award of $1,500 to assist a Jordanian student with the cost (Fax: 011–9626–534–4181); Email: [email protected] of their education. Eligibility is not limited to a specific field of Websites: study, but preference will be given to study related to Jordan’s http://www.acorjordan.org and http://www.bu.edu/acor cultural heritage. Candidates must be Jordanian citizens and cur- rently enrolled as undergraduate or graduate students in a Jorda- nian university. ALSO NOTE: Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) Multi-Country Research Fellowships: ACOR Jordanian Graduate Student Scholarship: The program is open to U.S. doctoral candidates and scholars who Four awards of $3,000 each to assist Jordanian graduate students have already earned their Ph.D. in fields in the humanities, social with the annual costs of their academic programs. Candidates must sciences, or allied natural sciences and wish to conduct research of be Jordanian citizens and currently enrolled in either a Master’s or regional or trans-regional significance. Fellowships require schol- Doctoral program in a Jordanian university. Eligibility is limited to ars to conduct research in more than one country, at least one of students in programs related to Jordan’s cultural heritage (for ex- which hosts a participating American overseas research center. It is ample: archaeology, anthropology, history, linguistics/epigraphy, anticipated that approximately ten fellowships of up to $9,000 each conservation, museum studies, and cultural resource management will be awarded. Applications will be available in early October. related issues). Awardees who demonstrate excellent progress in Deadline: January 15, 2013 their programs will be eligible to apply in consecutive years. For more information and to download the application form: ACOR Jordanian Travel Scholarship www.caorc.org/programs/ for ASOR Annual Meeting: EMAIL: [email protected], Two travel scholarships of $3,500 each to assist Jordanians par- TEL.: 202-633-1599, ticipating and delivering a paper at the ASOR Annual meeting in mid-November in the United States. Academic papers should MAIL: be submitted through the ASOR’s website (www.asor.org/am) by Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) February 1, 2013. Final award selection will be determined by the PO Box 37012, MRC 178 ASOR program committee. Washington, DC 20013-7012 Please Note: NEH, CAORC, MacDonald/Sampson (residency option), Sauer, and Bikai Fellows will reside at the ACOR facility in Amman while conducting their research.
ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 19 is pleased to present Distributor of New and Forthcoming Scholarly Books Titles from
Crossroads and Boundaries The Textual Criticism The Archaeology of Past and Present of Sumerian Literature in the Malloura Valley, Cyprus by Paul Delnero edited by Michael K. Toumazou, P. Nick Kardulias Drawing from a detailed analysis and Derek B. Counts of the different types of textual Since 1990, the Athienou Archaeological Project has investi- variants that occur in the gated the Malloura valley on the edge of the central Mesaoria numerous duplicates of a group plain near the modern town of Athienou, Cyprus. This research of ten compositions known has focused on how successive rural populations have collectively as the Decad, this adapted to local environmental changes and shifting political tides in the region, and how this book aims to provide a much needed critical methodology for adaptation is reflected in the archaeological, historical, and ethnographic record. interpreting textual variation in the Sumerian literary corpus. 400p, color illus throughout (April 2012, Annual of ASOR 65) hardcover, 9780897570862, 230p (September 2012, Journal of Cuneiform Studies Supplement $89.95 Series 3) hardcover, 9780897570886, $89.95
The Photographs of the American The Roman Marble Sculptures from the Sanctuary of Pan Palestine Exploration Society at Caesarea Philippi/Panias (Israel) by Rachel Hallote, Felicity Cobbing, by Elise A. Friedland and Jeffrey A. Spurr This constitutes the first publication of a deposit of broken marble statues discovered This volume includes over 150 never in 1992 during excavations of the Roman Sanctuary of Pan at Caesarea Philippi (Ba- previously published photographs nias, Israel). From 245 fragments, 29 statues ranging from colossal to miniature and of archaeological sites in the Middle representing Graeco-Roman deities and mythological figures are reconstructed. East (Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and ca. 250p, 95 b/w illus (November 2012, Archaeological Reports 17) hardcover, Israel), taken in 1875 by photogra- 9780897570879, $89.95 pher Tancrède Dumas for the American Palestine Exploration Society. The volume additionally tells the complete history of the American The Ayl to Ras an-Naqab Archaeological Survey, Southern Jordan 2005–2007 Palestine Exploration Society, which functioned in the 1870s and worked together with the British Palestine Exploration Fund to survey by Burton MacDonald, Larry G. Herr, D. Scott Quaintance, Geoffrey A. Clark, and map archaeological sites in Ottoman Palestine. These photographs and Michael C. A. Macdonald preserve the appearance of many of these sites when they were first The main goal of the project was to discover, record, and interpret archaeological sites seen by westerners, before urban development and tourism changed within the survey territory, which resulted in a statistically valid sample of the archaeo- the nature of the regions. Photographs include the ruins of Baalbek, logical materials of the area. In addition, team members recorded 389 archaeological Jerash, parts of Jerusalem, and numerous other sites. sites encountered within, adjacent to, or on their way to-from the squares. 368p, 15 b/w figs, 180 b/w pls (September 2012, Annual of ASOR 66) 2 vols, 552p, with DVD, 74 b/w figs, illus throughout, 24 tbls (October 2012, hardcover, 9780897570985, $89.95 Archaeological Reports 16) hardcover, 9780897570855, $149.95
ASOR book publications are distributed worldwide by Please visit our website, www.isdistribution.com, for a complete list of distributed publications
70 Enterprise Drive, Suite 2 • Bristol, CT 06010 • USA • phone (+1) 860 584 6546 • fax (+1) 860 516 4873
20 ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem 2013-2014 Fellowships in Near Eastern Studies
ellowships are open to students and scholars in Near Eastern studies from prehistory through the early Islamic period, including the fields of archae- Fology, anthropology, art history, Bible, epigraphy, historical geography, history, language, literature, philology and religion and related disciplines. The research period should be continu- ous, without frequent trips outside the country. Residence at the Albright is required (except for the Frerichs Fellow and Program Coordinator). The option to accommodate dependents is subject to space available at the Albright. www.aiar.org
Seymour Gitin Distinguished Professorship: Carol and Eric Meyers Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship: $45,000 award for 9 months or $22,500 for 4.5 months. Open $5,000 for 2 months. Eligibility is for doctoral students whose to internationally recognized senior scholars of all nationalities research involves the study of archaeology and society in the who have made significant contributions to their field of study. biblical or early post-biblical periods. Topics dealing with society Deadline: October 1, 2012. at the household level are encouraged. Deadline: October 1, 2012. Annual Professorship: W.F. Albright Associate Fellowships: $15,000 award for 4.5 months. Open to post-doctoral scholars, No stipend. Open to senior, post-doctoral, and doctoral researchers. who are US citizens. Deadline: October 1, 2012. Administrative fee required. No deadline. National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Fellowships: Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) $100,800 available for up to 5 awards: $37,800 for 9 months Multi-Country Research Fellowships: and $18,900 for 4.5 months. Open to post-doctoral scholars The program is open to U.S. doctoral and post-doctoral scholars in who are U.S. citizens (or alien residents for at least three years). the humanities, social sciences, or allied natural sciences and who Deadline: October 1, 2012. wish to conduct research of regional or trans-regional significance. Ernest S. Frerichs Fellow and Program Coordinator: Fellowships require scholars to conduct research in more than one $11,500 for 9 months. Open to doctoral students and post-doctoral country, at least one of which hosts a participating American overseas scholars. Recipient is expected to assist the Albright’s Director in research center. Approximately nine fellowships of up to $12,000 planning and implementing the Ernest S. Frerichs Program for each will be awarded in the doctoral candidate/post-doctoral scholar Albright Fellows, which requires a working knowledge of living competition. For more information: www.caorc.org, fellowships@ and traveling in Israel and includes leading an annual trip abroad. caorc.org, 202-633-1599. Deadline: January, 2013. Deadline: October 1, 2012. ACLS Recent Doctoral Recipients Fellowships: Educational and Cultural Affairs Fellowships (ECA): $35,000 for 10 months. Eligibility is limited to awardees • Junior Research Fellowships: $48,000 for up to four awards and alternates of the Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion from 4.5-9 months. Open to doctoral students and recent Ph.D. Fellowships the prior year. For application and more information: recipients who are U.S. citizens. Deadline: October 1, 2012. http://www.acls.org Deadline: November 2012. • Associate Fellowships: 13 administrative fee awards for senior All awards are subject to availability of funds.. and junior fellows (for one or two semesters). No deadline. FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Noble Group Fellowships for Chinese Students and Scholars: Dr. Joan R. Branham Chair, AIAR Fellowships $75,000 for three awards of $25,000 each for 9 months. Open Department of Art and Art History to Chinese citizens who are doctoral students or post-doctoral Providence College scholars, and are doing research in China or at institutions in other Providence, RI 02918 countries. Deadline: January 15, 2013. Tel: 401-865-1789 Fax: 401-865-2410 Glassman Holland Research Fellowship: Email: [email protected] $12,000 for 3 months. Open to all European post-doctoral researchers who are permanently resident in Europe. Or visit the Albright’s website at: www.aiar.org Deadline: January 15, 2013. The Albright Institute does not discriminate on the basis of race, George A. Barton Fellowship: age, sex, sexual orientation, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, or disability. $5,000 for 2 months. Open to all doctoral students and recent Ph.D. recipients. Deadline: October 1, 2012.
ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 21 2013 Annual Meeting
Program-at-a-Glance Wednesday • November 14, 2012 EVENING SESSION A1 Plenary Address Chicago Ballroom D&E 7:00pm-8:15pm THURsday • November 15, 2012 A2 Secondary Context: Considering Theory and Method for the Study Chicago Ballroom D of Objects of No Known Origin (Workshop) A3 Archaeology of Anatolia I Chicago Ballroom E MORNING A4 Archaeology of Cyprus I Chicago Ballroom A&B SESSIONS A5 Dress in the Ancient and Classical Near East Denver/Houston/KC A6 Myth, History, and Archaeology Chicago Ballroom H 8:20am-10:25am A7 Reports on Current Excavations, Non-ASOR Affiliated LA/Miami/Scottsdale A8 Ancient Inscriptions I Chicago Ballroom F&G A9 Khirbet Qeiyafa: The Sanctuaries and Early Judean Art and Cult Chicago Ballroom C
A10 Archaeology in Context: History, Politics, Community, Identity Chicago Ballroom H A11 Archaeology of Israel I Chicago Ballroom A&B A12 Archaeology of the Byzantine Near East Denver/Houston/KC MID-MORNING A13 Archaeology of the Natural Environment: Archaeobotany SESSIONS and Zooarchaeology in the Near East I Chicago Ballroom C 10:40am-12:45pm A14 Hebrew Bible, History, and Archaeology Chicago Ballroom E A15 Stepping Outside the ‘Palace’: Alternative Approaches to Ancient Power Dynamics Chicago Ballroom F&G A16 Landscapes of Settlement in the Ancient Near East Chicago Ballroom D A17 Current Research at Kültepe/Kanesh (Workshop) LA/Miami/Scottsdale 12:45pm-2:00pm Junior Scholar’s Luncheon Water Tower A18 Archaeology and Biblical Studies Chicago Ballroom D A19 Archaeology of Islamic Society I Chicago Ballroom C A20 Endeavors, Encounters, and Challenges: Research Jerusalem Chicago Ballroom E AFTERNOON A21 Archaeology of the Southern Levant I Chicago Ballroom H SESSIONS A22 Art Historical Approaches to the Near East I Chicago Ballroom A&B 2:00pm-4:05pm A23 Reports on Current Excavations and Surveys, ASOR-Affiliated LA/Miami/Scottsdale A24 Theoretical and Anthropological Approaches to the Near East I Chicago Ballroom F&G A25 Imperial Peripheries: Archaeology, History, and Society on the Denver/Houston/KC Edge of the Neo-Assyrian Empire A26 Archaeology of Jordan I: Nabataean through Byzantine Periods Chicago Ballroom A&B A27 Archaeology of Mesopotamia I Chicago Ballroom E A28 Archaeology of Southern Arabia and Her Neighbors I Chicago Ballroom F&G LATE A29 Beth-Shemesh between the Bronze and Iron Ages: Chicago Ballroom C AFTERNOON New Discoveries, New Thoughts SESSIONS A30 The World of the Philistines in the Iron Age Context LA/Miami/Scottsdale 4:20pm-6:25pm A31 Women in Near Eastern Archaeology: An Open Forum Denver/Houston/KC A32 Individual Submissions I Chicago Ballroom H A33 The City of David Excavations Revisited: Chicago Ballroom D In Memory of Yigal Shiloh (1937-1987) f riday • November 16, 2012 A34 Ancient Inscriptions II Chicago Ballroom F&G MORNING A35 Archaeological Processes and Phenomena in Natural (Karstic) Caves in Israel LA/Miami/Scottsdale SESSIONS A36 Archaeology of Anatolia II Chicago Ballroom D 8:20am-10:25am A37 Archaeology of Cyprus II Chicago Ballroom E
22 ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 MORNING A38 Archaeology of the Southern Levant II Chicago Ballroom H SESSIONS A39 Basileus, Sebastos, Shah: Archaeologies of Empire and Regional Interactions in the Denver/Houston/KC (Continued) Hellenistic and Roman Near East 8:20am-10:25am A40 Community-Based Practice and Collaboration in Near Eastern Archaeology Chicago Ballroom C A41 Technology in Archaeology Chicago Ballroom A&B A42 Archaeology of Gender Chicago Ballroom C A43 Archaeology of Islamic Society II Denver/Houston/KC MID-MORNING A44 Archaeology of Israel II Chicago Ballroom D SESSIONS A45 Archaeology of Mesopotamia II Chicago Ballroom E A46 Archaeology of the Near East: The Classical Periods LA/Miami/Scottsdale 10:40am-12:45pm A47 Khirbet Wadi Hamam: A Roman-Period Galilean Village Chicago Ballroom H A48 Religions in Bronze and Iron Age Syria-Palestine Chicago Ballroom A&B A49 Theoretical and Anthropological Approaches to the Near East II Chicago Ballroom F&G A50 The Archaeology of Iran I Chicago Ballroom A&B A51 Archaeology of Jordan II: Bronze and Iron Ages Chicago Ballroom E AFTERNOON A52 Bioarchaeology in the Near East Chicago Ballroom C SESSIONS A53 Cultural Heritage Management: Methods, Practices, and Case Studies Chicago Ballroom D 2:00pm-4:05pm A54 Political Landscapes of Bronze Age Syro-Mesopotamia Denver/Houston/KC A55 Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls LA/Miami/Scottsdale A56 Theoretical and Anthropological Approaches to the Near East III Chicago Ballroom F&G A57 Archaeological Conservation Strategies in the Near East (Workshop) Denver/Houston/KC LATE A58 Archaeology of Southern Arabia and Her Neighbors II Chicago Ballroom A&B A59 Archaeology of the Near East: Bronze and Iron Ages I Chicago Ballroom D AFTERNOON A60 City of Gold: Archaeological Excavations at Polis Chrysochous, Cyprus Chicago Ballroom F&G SESSIONS A61 Prehistoric Archaeology Chicago Ballroom E 4:20pm-6:25pm A62 Parthia and the West LA/Miami/Scottsdale A63 Organic Residue Analysis in Archaeology Chicago Ballroom C 6:30pm-7:00pm Aviram Prize Paper Chicago Ballroom H SA TURday • November 17, 2012 A64 Maritime Archaeology Chicago Ballroom E A65 Archaeology of the Natural Environment: Archaeobotany LA/Miami/Scottsdale MORNING and Zooarchaeology in the Near East II A66 GIS and Remote Sensing in Archaeology Chicago Ballroom A&B SESSIONS A67 History of Archaeology Chicago Ballroom F&G 8:20am-10:25am A68 Imperial Entanglements: Surveys and Excavations at Oğlanqala, Azerbaijan Chicago Ballroom C A69 Archaeology of Anatolia III Chicago Ballroom D A70 The German Contribution to the Archaeology of the Southern Levant Denver/Houston/KC A71 Mesopotamian Civilization: New Directions in Iraqi Archaeology I Chicago Ballroom E A72 Archaeology of the Near East: Bronze and Iron Ages II Chicago Ballroom A&B A73 Collecting and Displaying Ancient Near Eastern Materials in the Museum: Past, Chicago Ballroom D MID-MORNING Present, Future SESSIONS A74 Between Land and Sea – The Archaeology of Coastal Landscapes Denver/Houston/KC 10:40am-12:45pm A75 Innovations in Integrative Research Using the Online Cultural and Historical Re- LA/Miami/Scottsdale search Environment (OCHRE) A76 Archaeology of Lebanon Chicago Ballroom F&G A77 Joint Archaeological Expedition to Tell el-Hesi: Regional Overview Chicago Ballroom C A78 The Archaeology of Iran II Denver/Houston/KC A79 Archaeology of Syria Chicago Ballroom A&B A80 Current Issues in Biblical Archaeology Chicago Ballroom D AFTERNOON A81 Mesopotamian Civilization: New Directions in Iraqi Archaeology II Chicago Ballroom E SESSIONS A82 The Archaeology of Immigration in the Ancient Near East Chicago Ballroom C 2:00pm-4:05pm A83 Topics in Cyberinfrastructure, Digital Humanities, LA/Miami/Scottsdale and Near Eastern Archaeology I (Workshop) A84 Archaeology of Egypt Chicago Ballroom F&G A85 Individual Submissions II Chicago Ballroom C LATE A86 Archaeology of Jordan III: Iron Age Art Historical Approaches to the Near East II Chicago Ballroom D AFTERNOON A87 Art Historical Approaches to the Near East II Chicago Ballroom E SESSIONS A88 Islamic Frontiers and Borders in the Near East and Mediterranean Chicago Ballroom A&B 4:20pm-6:25pm A89 Topics in Cyberinfrastructure, Digital Humanities, and Near Eastern Archaeology II LA/Miami/Scottsdale A90 The Archaeology of Meals and the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament in Its World Denver/Houston/KC ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 23 2013 Annual Meeting
Business Meetings, Receptions, and Events
Wednesday • November 14, 2012 1:00-4:00pm Madaba Plains Project—`Umayri Workshop, Douglas R. Clark Denver and Kent V. Bramlett, Presiding
1:30-2:45pm Administrative Oversight Committee, Timothy P. Harrison, Presiding Houston/Kansas City
3:00-5:15pm Chairs Coordinating Council, Sharon Herbert, Presiding Los Angeles/Miami
5:00-5:30pm New Member Orientation Kansas City
5:30-6:00pm New Attendee Orientation Kansas City
7:00-8:15pm Welcome to the Annual Meeting and Plenary Address Chicago Ballroom
8:15-10:00pm Welcome Reception Chicago Ballroom
THURsday • November 15, 2012 7:00-8:15am Bulletin of ASOR (BASOR) Editorial Board, James Weinstein, Presiding Navy Pier
7:00-8:15am Consultation of Dig Directors in Jordan, Bethany Walker, Presiding Northwestern/Ohio
7:00-8:15am TAARII Breakfast Water Tower
8:30-9:00am ASOR Membership Committee, Theodore Burgh, Presiding Huron
9:00-9:45am ASOR Membership Committee with Institutional Members, Theodore Burgh, Presiding Huron
12:45-2:00pm Madaba Plains Project Staff Consultation, Oystein S. LaBianca, Presiding Navy Pier
12:45-2:00pm Junior Scholars Panel Discussion, Robert Darby and Erin Darby, Presiding Water Tower
12:45-2:00pm ASOR Damascus Committee, Jesse J. Casana, Presiding Huron
12:45-2:00pm ASOR Outreach Committee, Stefanie Elkins, Presiding Lincolnshire, 6th Fl.
1:00-2:00pm ASOR Media Relations Committee, Robert Cargill, Presiding Printers Row
1:00-2:00pm ASOR Honors and Awards Committee, TBA, Presiding O’Hare
5:30-7:30pm AIAR Development Committee Meeting, Lydie Shufro, Presiding Huron
7:15-7:45pm Saudi Arabia Committee, David Graf, Presiding Navy Pier
8:00-11:00pm ASOR Committee on Archaeological Research and Policy (CAP), O’Hare Oystein S. LaBianca, Presiding FRIday • November 16, 2012 7:00-8:15am ASOR Members Meeting, Theodore Burgh, Presiding Chicago Ballroom 8:30-11:00am AIAR Fellowship Committee, Joan Branham, Presiding Huron
24 ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 8:30-10:00am ASOR Committee on Publications (COP), Charles Jones, Presiding Navy Pier 11:00-1:00pm AIAR Executive Committee, J.P. Dessel, Presiding Huron 1:00-1:30pm AIAR Trustees Luncheon, J.P. Dessel, Presiding Avenue Ballroom 12:45-2:00pm ASOR Program Committee, Elise A. Friedland and Andrew M. Smith II, Presiding Great America, 6th Fl
12:45-2:00pm Madaba Plains Project Reception, Lawrence Geraty, Presiding Water Tower 12:45-2:00pm ASOR Baghdad Committee, Marian Feldman, Presiding Navy Pier 12:45-2:00pm Tel Gezer Excavation Consortium and Staff Consultation, Steve Ortiz and Sam Wolff, O’Hare 1:00-1:45pm Regional Affiliations Committee, Suzanne Richard, Presiding Huron 1:30-5:00pm AIAR Board of Trustees, Sidnie White Crawford, Presiding Houston 2:00-3:00pm ASOR Lecture Committee, Jacob Wright, Presiding Huron 2:00-4:00pm CAARI Executive Committee, Raymond Ewing, Presiding Navy Pier 2:00–4:00pm Development Committee Meeting, Robert A. Oden, Jr., Presiding ASOR Suite 5:15-6:45pm AIAR NEH Committee Meeting, Joan Branham, Presiding Huron 5:30-6:30pm Initiative on Status of Women in ASOR, Beth Alpert Nakhai, Presiding O’Hare 6:30-7:30pm CAARI Reception Fifth Floor Foyer
AS TURday • November 17, 2012 7:00-8:15am Session Chair Breakfast Northwestern/Ohio
8:15-9:45am ASOR Finance Committee, Sheldon Fox, Presiding ASOR Suite
8:15-9:45am ACOR Executive Committee Meeting, Randolph B. Old, Presiding Avenue Ballroom
9:00-5:00pm CAARI Board of Trustee Meeting, Raymond Ewing, Presiding Water Tower
10:00-12:30pm ASOR Executive Committee Meeting, P.E. MacAllister, Presiding ASOR Suite
9:45-1:45pm ACOR Board of Trustees Meeting, Randolph B. Old, Presiding Avenue Ballroom
12:45-2:00pm Projects on Parade Poster Session, Morag M. Kersel, Presiding Fifth Floor Foyer
2:00–3:00pm ASOR Campaign Cabinet Meeting, Robert A. Oden, Jr., Presiding ASOR Suite
2:00-4:00pm ASOR Canada, Debra Foran, Presiding Streetville, 2nd Fl
3:00-5:00pm Tell el Hesi Board & Publications Committee, Jeffrey A. Blakely, Presiding Old Town, 2nd Fl Optional ASOR Trustee Discussion Session: Committee Reports, Timothy P. Harrison 3:15 – 4:30pm ASOR Suite and Andrew G. Vaughn, Presiding 5:30 – 8:30pm Orientation and Dinner for New and Recent Trustees, Andrew G. Vaughn, Presiding ASOR Suite
s unday • November 18, 2012 8:00am-12:00pm ASOR Board of Trustees Meeting, P.E. MacAllister, Presiding Avenue Ballroom
ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 25 26 ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 27 Academic Program Updates for the 2013 Annual Meeting
For the 2013 Annual Meeting, our Academic Program will incorporate four venues for presenting your research and new discoveries: “ASOR Sessions,” “Member-Organized Sessions,” “Workshops,” and “Projects on Parade Poster Session.”
1. ASOR Sessions: Sessions that are long-standing ASOR- 4. Projects on Parade Poster Session: The Poster Session mainstays sponsored by the Program Committee (with ex- offers an informal venue for ASOR members to “get the isting chairs continuing to provide invaluable expertise and word out” about their research and is designed to provide organization) to assure that the Academic Program for each student and junior members an opportunity for greater in- Annual Meeting includes venues for the presentation of volvement in the program of the ASOR Annual Meeting. new research in the broad temporal, regional, and disciplin- ary areas represented in the ASOR membership (see list of “ASOR Sessions” below). We encourage all members to contribute to the 2013 Annual Meeting’s Academic Program and welcome new 2. Member-Organized Sessions: These sessions may be Member-Organized Session proposals, new Workshop Ses- proposed by ASOR Members who wish to explore a special sion proposals, and paper proposals. Please keep in mind the topic or theme at the Annual Meeting for a term of one to following deadlines: three years. December 15, 2012: New Member-Organized Session 3. Workshop Sessions: Workshops are interactive ses- proposals and new Workshop Session proposals due sions organized around a tightly focused topic or theme or February 15, 2013: Abstract/participation forms from around an archaeological site; in these, oral presentations those wishing to present papers at ASOR due and/or demonstrations are kept to a minimum in favor of April 15, 2013: ASOR office emails official acceptance/ open discussion between prospective session chairs, pre- rejection notice to presenters senters, and members of the audience. August 15, 2013: Proposals for Projects on Parade Poster Session due
ASOR Sessions • Bioarchaeology in the Near East • Collecting and Displaying Near Eastern • Ancient Inscriptions • Cultural Heritage Management: Art and Archaeology in the Museum • Archaeology and Biblical Studies Methods, Practices, and Case Studies • Imperial Peripheries: Archaeology, • Archaeology of Anatolia • GIS and Remote Sensing in Archaeology History, and Society on the Edge of the • Archaeology of the Byzantine Near East • History of Archaeology Neo-Assyrian Empire • Archaeology of Cyprus • Individual Submissions • Islamic Frontiers and Borders in the Near • Archaeology of Egypt • Maritime Archaeology East and Mediterranean • Archaeology of Eurasia and the Black Sea • Myth, History, and Archaeology • Joint Archaeological Expedition • Archaeology of Gender • Prehistoric Archaeology to Tel el-Hesi Regional Overview • Archaeology of Iran • Reports On Current Excavations— • Landscapes of Settlement in the • Archaeology of Islamic Society ASOR Affiliated Ancient Near East • Archaeology of Israel • Reports On Current Excavations— • Meals and the Hebrew Bible/Old • Archaeology of Jordan Non-ASOR Affiliated Testament in Its World: Foodways • Archaeology of Lebanon • Technology in Archaeology • Philistia and the Philistines in the Iron Age • Archaeology of Mesopotamia • Theoretical and Anthropological • Secondary Context for Objects with • Archaeology of the Natural Environment: Approaches to the Near East no Known Origin: A Workshop Archaeobotany and Zooarchaeology Pre-approved about Ethics of Scholarly Research • in the Near East “Member-Organized Sessions” The German Contribution to the • Archaeology of the Near East: Bronze for 2012 Annual Meeting Archaeology of the Southern Levant and Iron Ages • Topics in Cyberinfrastructure, Digital • Archaeology of the Near East : • Archaeology in Context: History, Humanities, and Near Eastern The Classical Periods Politics, Community, Identity Archaeology • Archaeology of Southern Arabia • Archaeology of Ritual and Religion • Twenty Years Digging at Armageddon: and Her Neighbors • Basileus, Sebastos, Shah: Archaeologies The Renewed Excavations at Megiddo • Archaeology of the Southern Levant of Empire and Regional Interactions in 1992-2012 • Archaeology of Syria the Hellenistic and Roman Near East • Art Historical Approaches to the • City of Gold: Archaeological Excavations Near East at Polis Chrysochous, Cyprus
28 ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 29 ASOR INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FORM
Journal Option Membership Type Other Membership Type
30 ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 continued from page 6 James Heilpern, University of North Carolina synagogue typology. The size of the ashlars used in the walls and at Chapel Hill the other architectural fragments discovered at the site suggested initially that this building was a “Galilean-type synagogue” . . his was my second season excavating at Huqoq, and first . but no such building has ever been discovered with a mosaic as assistant square supervisor. I was lucky enough to be floor - until now. Perhaps . . . perhaps . . . the typology is wrong. Tassigned to my old area - “The Pit” as we lovingly called it Only time will tell. last season - where after weeks of digging through layers of mod- ern trash we were Amanda Hopkins, Wesley Theological Seminary shocked to come down on the eastern xcavators focused their efforts exclusively on clarifying the wall of the ancient nature and function of a large rock-cut feature previously synagogue during Eidentified as a wine cellar and part of the `Umayri Survey the last three days Site 84.15 (l.15). Site 84 was initially surveyed in 1989 when of excavation. surveyors discovered cisterns, terraced walls, grape pressing in- As it turns out, the wall was just the beginning of Huqoq’s surprises. The slow trickle of tesserae squares (tiny cubes used in ancient mosaics) that began to pop up in the sift near the end of last sea- son turned into a deluge by the end of the first week of the 2012 excavations. By the end of week two, we were digging stallations with cup holes, quarrying marks and water reservoirs. up plaster chunks with tesserae squares still attached, causing The primary purpose of Site 84 was to produce wine. Surveyors us to fear that whatever masterpiece may have once adorned the also documented a rectilinear structure that originated in the Late floor had long since been destroyed. Then, during week three, Iron II/Early Persian period that provided the central feature of just when we were starting to lose hope, that beautiful face with the complex. This farmstead was excavated in 1994. her haunting eyes appeared in the dust. Words simply cannot do it justice, so I’ve attached a picture instead. The purpose in 2012 was to clarify the use of this rock-hewn feature and to recover any material remains that might exist within the installation. It consists of a curvilinear opening that stretches 1.5m by 2.4m. This feature occupies a limestone ledge located approximately 20m from the 10m-by-10m farmstead. The initial opening quickly blossomed into a rounded dome measuring 5.24 m by 4.4m. While the full extent of the cavity has yet to be cleared, ex- cavators made observations about its construction and use. In the southern area of the cave excavators noted chiseling and found remnants of plaster. They also identified dissolution features Huqoq mosaic with female face and inscription. Photo by Jim Haberman in the southeastern section and in the southern quadrant which were also worked by human hands. Pottery gathered was rare The area was all but shut down for the rest of the season throughout the accumulation but was consistent with the site’s as the conservationists painstakingly revealed the rest of the utilization during the late Iron II/Early Persian period. square’s mosaic. Soon we had not one, but two faces, each flank- Excavation results from the 2012 season suggest, based on ing a side of an Aramaic or Hebrew inscription possibly allud- the evidence of chisel work and plaster on the walls and ceiling ing to a passage in Ecclesiastes. Soon Samson and his infamous of the cave, that it was probably used as a cistern. The chisel- foxes entered the fray, as well right at the edge of the square’s ing of the natural dissolution features into what can best be de- southern balk. scribed as channels running into the underground space support We will have to wait until next season to discover what this new understanding. A more definitive view of the rock-hewn other treasures Huqoq may contain in adjacent squares. More cave will not occur until excavators return and continue to clean biblical scenes? A zodiac cycle? Helios? One way or the other, this feature. this discovery will likely force us to reconsider the traditional
ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 31 Brittany Jackson, University of California, Los Angeles from a Luwian inscription on the back of the statue. The statue had near perfectly preserved inlaid eyes of limestone, though it was eason Four at Marj Rabba, Israel, has been one of our most broken at the waist cutting off a portion of the inscription. Adjacent successful, thanks to funding from ASOR. The Marj Rabba to this statue was a large architectural feature with a winged-bull Sexcavations, led by Dr. Yorke Rowan (University of Chicago) and a griffin in relief, perhaps meant to be set into a wall. It ap- and Dr. Morag Kersel (DePaul University), are very important for pears that these two statues fell within some kind of a monumental exploring the virtually unexplored lifeways and material culture of gateway structure, and that several of the pavement stones were the Galilee during removed to lay the Chalcolithic these statues in a (c. 4500-3500 pit. It is unclear BC). As a recipi- what group may ent of the Heritage have done this Fellowship, my or why, but there participation has is strong belief been vital to train- among some of ing new excava- the team that the tors (of whom we monumental lion had almost 20 this statue discov- year!). As part of ered last season, my work, I have which was only led excavations two meters to the in one of our ar- west, is likely eas, where we associated with have had many these two new very exciting and ones. The statues promising finds date to the Iron this season. I period, some- During the where in the 10th- 2011 season at 8th centuries, and Marj Rabba, the their destruction area I supervise was started by opening two five meter by five may be related to meter excavation units. We were hoping to better understand and the site’s conquest by Tiglath-Pileser in 738 BCE, but that is only explain the relationship between two previously excavated areas conjecture at this early stage. of the site, which appeared to have at least two different building Tell Tayinat contains two main occupational phases, Early phases. The season proved very rewarding, as excavators uncov- Bronze and Iron Ages. This clearly connects the site to the nearby ered at least five stone wall remnants, three of which were seem- Tell Atçana (ancient Alalaḫ), which hosts only Middle and Late ingly large, well preserved, and apparently contemporaneous, Bronze occupational layers. Though the Iron Age finds of this and appeared to form the majority of a possible storage room. season demanded the bulk of our attention and energy, there were This season, we decided to expand excavations by adding an two squares working through EB material with a third passing additional five meter by five meter excavation square to the area, through early Iron I occupation into the EB levels. By the end of and, lo, we found the final, closing wall to the well preserved the season we had an entire field trough into EB phasing, making room, as well as a series of other very exciting finds. Excavators it the largest EB exposure thus far in the Amuq Plain, which will and students have uncovered multiple beads of various materi- hopefully yield valuable information concerning architectural als, as well as bone tools and jewelry, and obsidian, which was and urban planning practices of this period. imported from Turkey. We still have about two weeks until the end of our 2012 ex- Kristen Johnson, Princeton Theological Seminary cavation season, and staff, interns, and students are all working group of about 50 students and faculty from Penn State, hard to make sure this is the best season yet! The storage room Claremont, UMass Amherst, and Trinity College spent the in my area is still being excavated, and it appears that our stone- month of July digging at Tel Akko in northern Israel. In built walls are better preserved and larger than any of us could A the first few days we spent time weeding, sweeping and removing have hoped. Thanks again to ASOR, for supporting my participa- sandbags (and scorpions). Once our site was cleared we split up tion in Marj Rabba’s search for the prehistory of the Galilee! into 7 squares in site A and started digging through the Hellenistic, Dylan Johnson, Harvard University Persian, and Iron Age stratum. Though we found a few modern arti- facts such a nails, a bullet from the 1948 war, and 1970s excavator he 2012 excavation season at Tell Tayinat in southern Turkey Moshe Dothan’s pocket knife, we also found a number of incred- yielded some breathtaking finds from multiple occupational ible ancient artifacts including shards of Cypriot bichrome pottery, Tlevels this summer. The most striking discovery was a monu- unguentarium, many complete juglets, stamped amphora handles, mental Neo-Hittite statue of a king named Suppiluliuma, known bronze nails, fish hooks, Hellenistic oil lamps, beads, arrowheads, 32 ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 slag, and evidence of metallurgy. Though I spent most of my time of the excavations in lowering bulks, articulating walls, and uncovered diagnostic shards the summer of 2012 from the Persian and Iron Age, I did find a drain, a very thin and by the Jaffa Cultur- painted juglet neck, a bronze nail, and a shard inscribed with a al Heritage Project lamed and gimel. The find of the season found just north of my under Drs. Aaron square was a Hellenistic cylinder seal with a boat, sun, horse, and Burke (UCLA) and a few other undecipherable designs on it. Martin Peilstöcker However, ex- (Mainz), a continu- cavation at site A ation of the excava- was just a small tions from the pre- part of the total ar- vious summer. The chaeology that went primary goal of our on Tel Akko this season was to dis- summer. Members cover correlations of the program par- between the materi- ticipated in under- als that we were un- water excavation covering and those at the Akko harbor, already discovered survey of the en- and documented by tire tel, digital GIS the two previous ex- of its topography, cavations by Jacob metallurgy labs, Kaplan from 1955 to and conservation 1958 and Ze’ev Herzog in 1997 and 1999. The predominate finds programs. The Tel of the season date to the Late Bronze Age and help to clarify the Akko project also presence of Egyptians in the southern Levant during this time pe- included a lecture riod. The two phases of mudbrick gateway construction that were course from a fac- uncovered this season in the course of excavations are consistent ulty of 8 along with with what was discovered by Kaplan and Herzog. guest speakers from On top of the current excavation season, the staff of the JCHP the Israel Antiquities Authorities and local Akko. Each week on also conducted a four week study season to analyze and prepare Sunday we took a tour of Akko to physically learn more about the for publication the previously excavated materials that are at the history of the city. We saw the remains of Crusader, Ottoman, and Jaffa Museum. In particular, I have been using the 3D scanner British Mandate Akko, while learning about the walls, tunnels, and photographing the finds to prepare for publication. compounds, prison, places of worship (mosques, churches, and Bahai shrines), bazaars and bathhouses that comprised the Old Tristan Matheson, Bishop’s University City during those periods. We also took conservation tours to see how the IAA is going about the restoration and preservation of the he 2012 season at the ancient Moabite site of Khirbat Old City. Each week on Shabbot we would travel outside Akko to al-Mudayna, located 30 minutes south west of Madaba, see more of Israel’s ancient history. We went to Jerusalem, Sep- TJordan, proved to be very successful. The team not only phoris, the Sea of Galilee (including Capernaum, Kursi, and the found many high status artefacts, but team members also found Jordan River), Caesarea, the Carmel Caves, and Haifa (Hecht’s a complete painted foot fragment that belonged to the rest of the Museum and the Bahai Gardens). The culmination of all of these statue recovered during the 2010 season. A tiny scaraboid-shaped experiences, both archaeologically and errantly, informed me more fully about many topics which were already of great interest to me. Aside from learning, I also made a lot of friends from all walks of life whose company made this trip a lot of fun. For this total experience I am truly grateful for the privilege to have been a participant.
Amy Karoll, University of California, Los Angeles
he site of Jaffa, located in the modern city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, was first occupied during the earliest phases of the TMiddle Bronze Age. As a vibrant maritime commercial cen- ter in antiquity, Jaffa boasts a MBA and LBA ceramic assemblage consisting of both locally-produced ceramics and imported wares from across the eastern Mediterranean. In the Late Bronze Age, the site was dominated by an Egyptian fortress. This was the focus
ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 33 ring seal with a sunken relief depiction of a person leading a horse answer and even more so the ones that left us wondering and was also recovered. dreaming. I also realized how much the societies of the past have The field stone walls of four rooms were exposed on the west- in common with current ones. ern side of North Gate 100. A (2.5 m length?) long mudbrick wall I have learned that archaeology is both a science and an art. was discovered on the north-western side of the main gate struc- It is rich and beautiful as well as telling and imaginative. It takes ture. All previously excavated architectural features have been talent, knowledge, and heart to succeed in this field. I left Rehov constructed of field stones making this wall somewhat unusual. with a greater understanding of archaeology and a stronger desire During the course of the 2012 season team members complet- to continue learning as much as possible in this field. Perhaps the ed a digitized master top plan for North Gate 100 and the northern greatest lesson I learned was that it is not about what you find, but end of the site. what you discover. Another area of interest this season was the partial exca- Nate Ramsayer, Boston University vation of the large, circular depression approximately 20 meters in diameter, located on the Northwest side of the site. The depres- ell es-Safi is an enormous site in the Shephelah (hill country) sion, clearly visible in aerial photographs, is an intriguing part region of Israel, and has been convincingly identified as the of the site. The area was excavated to bedrock in several squares Philistine city of Gath, from where the biblical giant Goliath but no features were exposed. The nature and use of this topo- T is said to have come. Safi has been excavated for 15 consecutive graphical feature is unclear although excavators hypothesize that years now, spearheaded by Dr. Aren Maeir of Bar-Ilan University it might have been used as a cistern. To date the nature of this in Israel. This year depression remains undetermined. Work will continue in the de- it boasted the title of pression area in future seasons. largest excavation in Israel, with around Heather Pillette, Asbury Theological Seminary 150 staff members spent three weeks this summer at Tel Rehov, located in the a n d v o l u n t e e r s northern Beth-Shean Valley of Israel. Tel Rehov has seen thirteen working at once, seasons of excavation; with the one I participated in being its representing over 20 I different countries final one. Amihai Mazar and Nava Panitz-Cohen led the excavations at Rehov; both of them taught me a great deal. of the world! We had almost every Most of my kind of specialist time was spent ex- there is—pottery, cavating in a square carbon 14, linguis- that had never been tics, architecture, dug in previously- metallurgy, zooar- this was really ex- chaeology, botany, citing! One of Re- 3D scanning, OSL hov’s richest finds dating, geomorphol- was the discovery ogy, a bone spe- of an ancient api- cialist, a phytolith ary. The area I dug specialist, a pollen in came down di- expert, etc. rectly next to the apiary; essentially While our team has yet to uncover any size 20 sandals or where the hives skeletons that measure “six cubits and a span,” scores of excit- “leaned”. I uncov- ing finds have nonetheless already made the journey from deep ered a nearly whole trenches to the lab at Bar-Ilan University to pages of publication amphora, and as the in years past, and we were able to supplement that list with some weeks passed we new treasures this season. I was assigned to Area P, the smallest discovered a chal- (but definitely most fun!) excavation area at Safi, which was pre- ice and a hippo jar viously excavated for two seasons, but abandoned for the last four as well as pieces of years (thus, we had four years of winter wash build up to burrow several bowls. The most interesting aspect of my square was the through!). Our fearless leader, Dr. Jill Katz from Yeshiva Univer- walls. The walls had layers of ash as well as wooden beams still sity in New York City, led a cohort of 15 of the craziest and most semi-preserved. These things can tell us a great deal about the fun people from around the globe in search of evidence of the elu- chronology. sive transitional period from the Late Bronze to Early Iron Age. The pottery ended up being my favorite part of this experi- Not only was I able to fulfill my dream of getting to dig, measure ence. The study of pottery is a rich art that reveals aspects of elevation, and help identify indicative pottery sherds, but being sociology, culture, and anthropology. The possibilities are amaz- at Safi provided me with the opportunity to participate in unex- ing and endless and I thoroughly enjoyed the questions we could pected areas of archaeology, from extracting phytolith layers in
34 ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 the soil to micro-sieving for faunal remains at our bone lab. The es could indicate a mudbrick. This made digging quite difficult at educational aspect was above and beyond anything I imagined! times, but it also taught me to look at the subtle differences in the I personally found several flint blades, some nice painted Phi- soil, rather than looking solely for drastic changes. Another valu- listine pottery, and a foundation deposit of two stacked bowls (the able learning experience I had came from being a supervisor-in- top one place upside down as a lid) containing a lamp inside— training. As I learned more about phasing, stone foundations to these were whole vessels, untouched for about 3,500 years! The walls, mudbricks, and other artifacts, I was able to explain to the major find of the season came from our Area P; we discovered a students what, and why, we were excavating and handling the quite unexpected 15-meter section of a fortification wall of the artifacts in different ways. This reinforced all that I had learned, city from the Late Bronze Age, which is significant because it while simultaneously preparing me to supervise my own units may be the only Late Bronze Age wall in all of Israel. Typically and students in the future. I was fortunate to dig in areas that had the fortified cities reused Middle Bronze Age fortifications; this many architectural features such as walls, several tabuns, and a may lead to a revision of how scholars understand fortifications pit or two. These features definitely complicated the phasing at in Israel during this time period! the site because the walls weren’t always preserved completely So I’d like to take this opportunity to tip my fedora to ASOR or in a logical place, but it afforded me with a much desired and the generous donors of the Heritage Fellowship. Without learning experience. their assistance and hard work, this Bible scholar would not have In addition to the excavation experience I was also able to had the chance to travel the world, help the team at Safi, learn travel all over Israel. I went to many well known archaeological all about the excavation process, and make amazing new friends sites like Lachish, Masada, Ein Gedi, Maresha, and Dan. I was from around the globe. Cheers to you, ASOR! also able to travel to many modern cities including Jerusalem, Be’er Sheva, and Tiberias. I even had the opportunity to travel Tiffany Raymond, Mississippi State University to Petra in Jordan on a free weekend. I really loved seeing the different sites because they put into perspective the rich history his summer I was able to take part in the excavations at that the people of Israel have. The people in Israel were very Khirbet Summeily due to the fact that ASOR awarded me a welcoming, and at no point did I feel unsafe. The culture is enliv- THeritage Fellowship, and I am very grateful to them for this. ening, and Jerusalem is now my favorite city in the world! It was an experience of a lifetime and I am very thankful that ASOR and the Heritage donors helped me make this trip possible.
Arielle Reed, University of Toronto
uring the dates of June 4th, 2012 and July 10th 2012, a team consisting of three other students, two supervi- Dsors, and myself excavated a 5m by 2.5m part of square 5L12T4 in Field B of Tel Madaba in Madaba, Jordan. The remain- ing time of my trip, July 11th – 15th, was spent doing lab work. Our findings consisted of: a variety of pottery and faunal re- mains dating from the Islamic Period to Early Bronze Age, rock tumble, a small mosaic, and a part of the Tel Madaba fortification wall. The rock tumble, which was found in Locus 6, had a clearly
Khirbet Summeily is an Iron Age village site on the edge of the Negev Desert, and is believed to be a border site between ancient Philistia and Judah. The site is being excavated in association with the Tel-Hesi Joint Archaeological Project, and is directed by James. W. Hardin and Jeffery A. Blake. Typical artifacts at the site are loom weights, spindle whorls, mudbricks, beads, and pottery galore! Some of the rarer artifacts that we found were scarabs with Egyptian hieroglyphics, and figurines. The experience that digging at this site gave me will help me in my future career as a Near Eastern archaeologist. The mud- bricks at Khirbet Summeily were very difficult to differentiate from the surrounding dirt, especially at four in the morning when we headed to the site, as their color and texture tended to be very similar. At times, compaction of the soil with slight color chang-
ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 35 constructed end that did not extend into the Southeast corner of and I also helped clean a hearth. A cultic area, Area C produced the square. This end revealed a terrace, which was also located a number of finds including more Semitic inscriptions, a number in the square to the South – 5L12Y2. We took out the tumble to of seals, an amulet, a jar with 20 olive pits (which will help with further excavate horizontally, in order to contain any decontami- dating the site) and a huge basin- fit for the likes of Bathsheba! nation, and found the fortification wall underneath. We hit steady Finally, at Area A most of the season was spent digging through pottery context once we took out the rock tumble and found ma- Byzantine material. It was only until the final weeks that we un- jority Iron Age II. This fortification wall had been excavated in covered an enormously long Iron Age wall. Located at the high- a variety of other squares at Tel Madaba and our elevation (787 est point of KQ, it has the potential of being an administrative mASL) matched other findings thus confirming that the wall we center. As my first archaeological dig, this dig was unforgettable. found was, indeed, the Tel Madaba fortification wall. Thanks to the Heritage Fellowship and ASOR’s wonderful do- During the excavation, I learned a variety of techniques that nors I now walk away with a fuller and richer understanding of will be useful for any expeditions in the future. Such techniques archaeology and its impact on biblical studies. included: filing out Locus, Architecture and Installation sheets; object and pottery drawing, as well as manual mapping tech- Abelardo Rivas, Andrews University niques and top plan/baulk drawing. After this field school, I not only feel more competent but also confident in my ability for hanks to the Heritage Fellowship, I was able to participate function adequately on an archaeological excavation. in two excavations in Jordan and conduct studies on cultic Tobjects found at Atarutz. I had a double purpose for my Monica Rey, Boston University School of Theology research this year. First, supervise two squares, one at Tell Jalul
he 2012 Heritage Fellowship gave me the opportunity to go on my first archaeological excavation, which took place Tat Khirbet Qeiyafa, a fortified city southwest of Jerusalem overlooking the Elah Valley. As a student who plans on pursu- ing a doctorate in Tanakh, I have always been fas- cinated by how archaeology can help illuminate the context of the biblical narrative. This is just one of the reasons why being able to dig at Khirbet Qeiya- fa was a remark- and a second square at Khirbet Atarutz searching for answers to able opportunity. questions raised in previous excavations. Second, to initiate a With dig director systematic study of the cultic objects found at Khirbet Atarutz Yossi Garfinkel during the last ten years of excavations. and Israel An- In regards to Jalul, our goal for the season in square W-7 at tiquities Author- Jalul was to trace the development, on the southern slope of the ity inspector Mr. central depression in field W, of the wall and plaster of the Iron Saar Ganor at the Age water reservoir found last summer. It was a high goal since helm, the site has we only had a short season and about 20 meters in depth to ex- already impacted cavate. However, to our surprise, during the first week we found our understand- a wall that seemed to be completely unaligned with the wall of ing of urban centers in Judah during the time of the Iron Age, the the cistern. This find in turn raised questions as to the orienta- time period corresponding to the United Monarchy. The site helps tion of the reservoir. Indeed, we thought it was perhaps a sharp to answer the question of when urbanism may have begun both turn. The wall was poorly constructed and did not match any of at KQ and more broadly. the reservoir’s walls or the assumed orientation. Yet, in square This summer the excavation centered on three areas, all of W-5 there is part of a wall, not aligned either with the plaster which I had the pleasure of digging in. Starting at Area F, we or the wall over the plaster of the reservoir, that could be part were tasked to search for where the meeting point between the of the first wall found at my square if such continues to widen pattern created by the casemate walls (which went in opposite as it goes down. Indeed, this seems to be the case. Moreover, as directions from the double gates). After opening a number of we continued to dig, it became clear that such wall on the north- squares, we were finally able to find the meeting point. At Area eastern corner of the square was more a partition wall within the C, I was able to dig at the floor, finding a beautiful Iron Age jug, reservoir. It is possible, as it seems by repairs in the plaster, that
36 ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 a certain area of the reservoir became unusable and it was sealed will be presenting some of them at the upcoming ASOR meet- with this Northeast partition from the rest of the water reservoir in ing in Chicago. My main objective is to deepen the understand- order to utilize the rest of the reservoir. Furthermore, about a me- ing of the local religion at Atarutz and how these objects play a ter below the partition wall following, we found the plaster of the role in the daily manifestation of the beliefs of the locals as well cistern, the wall may have been robed, following the logical line as understanding the ritualistic uses these objects may have had. demarked by the depression and correlating with the section of the plaster excavated last season in square W-5. This tends to verify Rebekah Ross, Southwestern Baptist our assumption that the structure of the water reservoir followed Theological Seminary the general orientation of the central depression of field W or that the depression is actually caused by the previous construction of he Kourion Urban Space Project 2012 began with high ex- the reservoir. At the center of the square, as we removed a layer pectations of locating the continuation of the Late Roman of tumbled rock, we found a stone with drawing, maybe Islamic, Tcommunity, dubbed the “Earthquake House” dated to 365 to which called the attention of the entire team because of its potential 370 CE found in the 1980s by David Soren and his team. The site significance. The drawing consists of several geometrical patterns, was originally to be located on the opposite ridge southwest of the most of them circulars/square, over imposed one upon the other. At each corner of each pattern a semicircle is drawn surrounded by a set of small triangles. The center of the drawing is a square formed by the over imposition of each pattern and the internal corners are a set of four rectangles. The suggestions run from an Islamic Blue Print of a building to an Islamic artistic design or ornament. Yet, one person argued it is not Islamic. Therefore, further studies will reveal its true content. The pottery was mostly Iron Age II. Yet there was also Middle Bronze, an Early Bronze, and Hellenistic pieces at various levels. Thus, this made in turn dating the layers a considerable challenge. Even though the square was not finished, important information surfaced helping us understand more the use and the design of the water reservoir, which could be potentially one of the biggest yet to be excavated in Jordan. On the second excavation project at Atarutz, we set as our goal, in square F-4, to trace the structure of a potential wall which started in square F-3. Again, to our surprise we not only excavated one wall but four walls. One of them, wall 14, is an internal divi- “Earthquake House” overlooking the Roman breakwater; however sion of the structure. The pottery was domestic Iron Age includ- there were complications that prevented this location. The site was ing cooking pots, storage jars, jugs, bowls, kraters, whole mouth relocated closer to the “Earthquake House.” kraters, and painted Moabite/Ammonite ware. The eastern area of Square A was plotted level and west of the Late Roman site. the square also presented ash pockets along with carbonized sam- Square B was sited uphill and southeast of square A and square ples and burned pottery. This seems to indicate cooking evidence. C plotted in downhill and southwest of Square A. At the midway The vast majority of the pottery came from the eastern side of the point in the excavation, Squares D1 and D2 were opened because square and the division wall. The soil firmness and color suggested the Kourion Mapping Project revealed a potential location for a mo- at least one floor level of beaten dirt. The southern wall was very saic floor and tesserae had been found scattered along the cliff side. poorly constructed and it seems it had evidence of repairs. Most The first few weeks revealed a potential wall in square C and likely, this was a house and its use seems to correlate to the period the beginnings of a wall was emerging in square A. Square B was of the temple found in field E during the Iron Age II. The northern an enigma. After a few more weeks of excavation the potential area of the square remains to be excavated making it difficult to wall in square C revealed a shallow water installation. Square A come to definite conclusions. However, an important insight we revealed that the wall continued toward the west. A Byzantine oil gained from this season in my square is that we may have reached lamp was found in square A. Square B continued to be mysteri- the limits of the temple complex and are now beginning to explore ous until a beaten floor was located about 80 cm down. Below the the domestic areas of Atarutz. Since Dr. Ji started his excavations beaten earth surface revealed bedrock but in the folds and dives the center of attention has been the cultic areas. However, to fully of the bedrock was evidence of intentional filling. In the fill was understand the religion of Atarutz it is important to research how found a different type of soil, bones, glass, metal, and a huge cache it transcended to the local people. Our field, which seems to be of large pottery pieces. The vast majority of the shards were am- domestic, will help in finding such information. phora handles and bases; all of the pottery found in the fill was Finally, the Heritage Fellowship allowed me to also con- Byzantine. Square D1 and D2 revealed a mosaic fragment and two duct a second area of research which is studying the cultic ob- mosaic floors were located along with a cistern. jects of Atarutz stored in the Madaba Museum. I spent a week The conclusion of field season 2012 is that the land lo- photographing and analyzing the details of several objects found cated southwest of the “Earthquake House” was not inhabited at the central court area of the main temple at Atarutz. Among during the Late Roman period but was the site of a post-quake these objects were Kernoi, lamps, shrines, statues, and others. I Byzantine occupation.
ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 37 Miranda Siklenka, University of Victoria Jordan Skornik, University of Chicago Divinity School
wish to express my sincere gratitude for the generous funding inally underway at Zincirli Höyük, Turkey! provided by the ASOR Heritage Grants that enabled me to par- After a later-than-usual start due to Ramadan, the 7th I ticipate in the Humayma Excavation Project in Jordan this sum- Fseason of the Neubauer Expedition to Zincirli (ancient mer. The successful Sam’al), an archaeological project of the University of Chicago’s Humayma Exca- Oriental Institute, has begun in earnest. Digging officially com- vation Project had menced at dawn on been directed by Saturday, August Dr. John P. Oleson 25, and now, with of the University of only one week un- Victoria from 1987- der our belts, there 2005. It is now un- is already much to der the direction of be excited about. Dr. Barbara Reeves Thanks to the Heri- of Queen’s Univer- tage Fellowship, I sity. The project am able to experi- focuses on the Ro- ence it firsthand. man and Byzantine In my trench, periods in Jordan. opened just this My colleagues and season as an ex- I were involved in tension of another the excavation of area situated on the two major struc- southern slope of tures: a Roman the mound, we are and Byzantine bath hoping to further house complex as well as a mudbrick our understand- building which is ing of the mound’s hypothesized to be stratigraphy. Previ- ous seasons have a brothel. In addition to digging at the site, our team worked I am helping clean what seemed to be a together to wash pottery, sort and date pottery, draw field plans, provided the basic possible differentiation in the color of and process finds. sequence, especial- a plastered mud-brick wall. ly concerning the During the six weeks spent as a first time volunteer in this fortifications. A surprising result was the discovery of an Iron excavation, I gained an extensive knowledge of the fascinating Age rampart earlier than the citadel walls. Since German archae- aspects of the ancient cultures in Jordan. In addition to being ologists had uncovered these walls along with a series of palaces immersed in archaeological fieldwork in the desert, I was able to at the end of the 19th century, we have extended our work into contribute my artistic ability to the project by illustrating a large an area previously excavated by them in order to correlate their number of ceramic fragments and small finds in the laboratory. research with the current findings. Most of the fragments included Roman vessel rims, Byzantine Thus far we have located a cobbled surface along with an lamps, and some very delicate sherds of Nabataean fine-ware. embedded, restorable pithos similar to those drawn in the Ger- While handling these objects, I often paused to think for a mo- man top plan. Since the cobbled surface lies above one of two ment of just how remarkable it was to be holding a piece of towers belonging to the upper citadel gate, below which is the ancient history in my hands. Being an illustrator is rewarding, alte Bau – possibly an earlier fortification of a different orienta- mostly because my work provides a visual understanding to the tion – we can expect the next few weeks to be very illuminating. research conducted by Dr. Reeves and Dr. Oleson. While the steady heat and early wake-up calls have been a My work with Dr. Oleson as his research assistant at the bit of a shock to the system, the rewards of exciting new finds, University of Victoria resulted in my enthusiasm to participate beautiful sunrises, and interactions with local workers and in this archaeological project. As his assistant, I prepare Adobe skilled colleagues from all over the world more than make up Illustrator drawings of archaeological finds (primarily pottery). for the difficult work. This being my first ever field experience, The ceramics and other finds come from Dr. Oleson’s previous I feel as if I am perpetually one step behind. But thankfully the excavations at Humayma in Jordan, and the drawings will be staff and volunteers are generous of their time and very sup- used in volumes 2 and 3 of his final report publication. It was portive, not to mention loads of fun. I have already learned a an incredible opportunity to apply these skills to my field study great deal and am looking forward to further discoveries in the overseas, and I plan to work as an archaeological illustrator for coming weeks. future projects in Greece and Italy. Again, I give thanks to ASOR for making this experience in Jordan possible.
38 ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 Mehrnoush Soroush, New York University routine was broken when a possible differentiation in the color of a plastered mud-brick wall was observed, or when weeks of received the Heritage Fellowship to participate in my first disappointingly digging of pit after pit, in the least promising part fieldwork at the site of Kınık Höyük, in Cappadocia. Kınık of our operation, ended in our finding a wonderfully preserved IHöyük is close to the small city of Altunhisar, and Niğde is the stone pavement in the very last week of the season. Or, one day, closest real town where we spent several free Saturday afternoons. when we had extra workmen, we had them open a seemingly un- I cannot think of a better way to have spent this scholarship. To promising area that we had put off digging until next year. This begin with, our höyük (mound) is located in such a picturesque area had such complicated stratigraphy that the day before we landscape. My early morning trips to the site and my afternoon decided to stop working there and concentrate on finishing what we had opened elsewhere. Guess what?! In the first hours of dig- ging, we found our most beautiful Iron-Age ceramic of the whole season lying just ten centimeters below the surface. Maybe my most interesting experience, in this regard, was when we hit an undisturbed “context” of destruction, full of ceramics, some half an hour before heading back to the dighouse. It was most exciting to see how our routine changed: some of us had to forget about the break and work non-stop until the afternoon and the others came back to continue the work until we made sure that all material was being taken care of. This does not mean that fieldwork is mainly about excitement: One needs to learn how to bear with boring hours and days, how to stay calm, creative and interested under the sun at noon or amidst the blinding dust devils and how to bear the physical and emotional pressure of the end-of-the-season days and hours. We closed this year’s season yesterday. As I am flying back trips back to the dig house were like short dreams in a wonderland: home, my mind is still processing it: thinking about the friends endless combinations of horizontal lines of golden grain fields and and the scenes I will miss, the things I could have done better, orchards and vertical lines of poplars which constantly sway in the the things to remember in future. And, last but not least, that my cool mountain breeze. All of these are embroidered on a blend of initial joy and excitement of receiving an ASOR field scholarship clear blue sky and pinkish gray mountains that infinitely reflect is complete because I used it in such a fulfilling field experience. one another. Our höyük is the most prominent feature, at least in my eyes, in this landscape: a miraculously intact golden cup, set Michele Stillinger, University of Minnesota up-side down amidst orchards and fields and visible from almost everywhere, including our dig house in the village of Yeşil Yurt. his summer I embarked on the first stage of my disserta- tion research, collecting archaeomagnetic samples from the Digging at Kınık, I worked with a team from Pavia Univer- small tell of Khirbet Summeily in Israel, an Iron Age site sity, Italy, directed by Prof. Lorenzo d’Alfonso from the Insti- T in the northern Negev desert. Khirbet Summeily is located near tute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University. Tell el-Hesi, the large Bronze and Iron Age fortress site recently Prof. d’Alfonso’s enthusiasm for and dedication to teaching and featured in Near East- mentorship took me, at an unexpected pace, through all steps of ern Archaeology, (Vol archaeological practice. He has all students take part in all ac- 75, No 1). Both sites tivities and learn all tasks. Thus, I dug in the mornings, and spent are located along the my afternoon hours helping organize the finds: washing ceram- ancient transportation ics, filling forms, photographing, working with our database, and route between Gaza making drawings, all of which involved unplanned short lessons and Hebron. Sum- from Prof. d’Alfonso and my very congenial colleagues on all meily is significant aspects of archaeology. On top of that, I had one little extra re- because it sits on the sponsibility: flotation of soil samples, the first step for the study of very edge of the Phi- archaeobotanical remains of Kınık Höyük. Dr. Naomi Miller from listine/Judahite border the University of Pennsylvania Museum paid us a visit to teach and contains elements me how to do this. My summer archaeological field school made from both cultures. me most certain that archaeology is no doubt the most exciting This was my first profession in the world! extended stay in a As one can imagine from my enthusiastic words, I enjoyed desert environment. everything I experienced this summer. But, my favorite was ob- Admittedly, I was a serving the very varied rhythm and changing dynamics of field- bit hesitant to spend work: the mix of planning and decision-making that involves five weeks in the every team member and yet produces uncertain results and un- hot desert sun, being expected moments. To give you a hint: Our ordinary everyday from Minnesota. Ev-
ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 39 eryone assured me it was a “dry” heat. Maybe fifty years ago, but gression of two pre- now the deserts of Israel are being irrigated for a variety of food viously excavated crops, including the orange groves near our site, and it was mug- walls. The square gy. Fortunately, our day began at 4 AM, watching the sunrise over in question was the farm fields as we chased away camel spiders and scorpions one of the north- from our units before excavating. We were only five minutes from ernmost excavated Gaza, which became a bit unnerving one week when there were during this season, some skirmishes and our days were filled with the not-so-distant and quickly re- rumble of shelling. It was a sad reminder of how different life is vealed a previously in this part of the world and how I may never get to visit many unexcavated room. of the places in the Near East where I’ve wanted to do research. This room mea- Our first two weeks of excavation were relatively unevent- sured several times ful for me in terms of collecting archaeomagnetic samples. Ar- longer then it did chaeomagnetism, a subfield of paleomagnetism, is the study of wide, crossing atop the ancient magnetic field of the Earth stored within archaeologi- the latrine drainage cal materials. The record of ancient field strength and direction is channel and lined recorded by magnetic particles such as iron, magnetite, and he- with rectangular matite, found within materials made of stone, clay, sediment, and flagstones. Initially, soils. When these materials are subjected to high temperatures, the purpose of this such as an intense fire or baking in a kiln, and then cooled, the room was suspect. magnetic particles align in the direction of the Earth’s magnetic However, a quick field at that moment in time. This record of field strength and investigation into direction is highly dependent on location. Databases of measure- the prevailing winds ments can be used to construct magnetic variation curves, which of the region deter- can then be used as dating curves in the absence of other archaeo- mined this room was likely used to prevent sand from entering the logical dating methods. bathhouse. Herein, with the discovery of a doorway, we concluded By the third week of excavation we were uncovering several that this was one of the entranceways to the bathhouse. hearths and small destruction layers, from which I collected nu- Ultimately, without the financial assistance provided by ASOR merous pottery and taboon samples. A taboon is a small, conical through the Heritage Fellowship, my participation in this excava- bread oven, ideal for archaeomagnetic analysis as it can provide tion would have been in jeopardy. I’d like to extend my thanks to a more accurate magnetic directional component since it is still the members and donors of ASOR. in-situ. Overall, I acquired a large number of samples for archaeo- magnetic testing and was pleased to be invited back next year to Emily Wilson, University of Chicago visit additional sites to collect samples, which will assist me in further refining the archaeomagnetic database for Israel. Thanks reetings from the field! Due to Ramadan’s late ending this in part to the generous donor of my Heritage Fellowship and the year, the dig at Zincirli has only just completed the first support of ASOR, I had a very successful and rewarding first field Gweek of fieldwork. Zincirli, ancient Sam’al, was initially season and made a number of new friends and professional con- excavated by a German team in the late 19h century and is cur- tacts. I am already looking forward to next summer; sweltering rently being excavated by the Neubauer Expedition, housed at the heat, scorpions and all! University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute. Zincirli was an important Early Bronze Age site and then reemerged as a Syro-Hittite city-state Aaron Styba, Queen’s University that controlled the trade routes between the Euphrates and Central Anatolia. Chicago’s expedition is attempting to improve and widen etween the dates of 16th May 2012 and 1st July 2012, I was fortunate enough to be titled the role of junior excavator in Bthe Humayma Excavation project directed by Dr. Barbara Reeves of Queen’s University, in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The Humayma site is located approximately an hour’s drive north of Aqaba, Jordan. The site contains periods of occupation by the Nabataeans, Romans and Byzantines, as well as the Abbasids during their plot to overthrow the Umayyad. Working alongside a partner, a square supervisor and a rotation of local Bedouin, I was involved in the excavation of what is identified as a bathhouse from both the Nabataean and Roman periods of occupation. Specific details concerning the contents of the square I exca- vated I wish to omit, as the site director, Dr. Reeves, intends to publish concerning this bathhouse as soon as possible. Broadly put, found within my square was the continuation of a previously discovered latrine drainage channel, as well as the westward pro-
40 ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 knowledge gained by the German team, with excavations concen- Micro-debris, as with many artifacts found in domestic con- trated both on top of the fortified höyük and in the lower town as texts, is a residual product of daily activity occurring at or around well. I have returned to the trench that I supervised in 2010, which their place of primary deposition. These debris often become em- includes the citadel wall and the structures lying immediately bedded in the immediate surfaces as a result of an area’s daily against it. In 2010, we overturned the notion that this area had been use, thus representing the site’s area activities through a process abandoned after the Assyrian demise of the late 7th century BCE by of usually unintentional deposition. The value of micro-debris in finding a Hellenistic coin and a sherd of Attic pottery. Thus, we have relation to these larger artifacts comes from its propensity to es- tentatively re-dated the citadel wall to the late Achaemenid period cape secondary depositional processes common to domestic spac- and our primary goal for this season is to get a clear chronology for es, such as cleaning or sweeping, leaving these minute fragments the citadel wall and the structures lying immediately within. Our largely in primary situ. Because of this, micro-debris, in conjunc- first week thus included a thorough cleaning of the trench (after two tion with the larger materials left behind, potentially provides a years of sitting, my trench’s balks had eroded and partially collapsed much more telling system of unintentional patterning of human into the square), and beginning to remove some of the architectural behavior within site areas. The size of micro-debris also allows features that obscure our understanding of this area’s chronology, for the preservation of materials that may otherwise have been including a beautiful stone pavement. As square supervisor, I am removed from its area of use, resulting in this micro-material often in charge of 7 workmen and an assistant, which can require quite a embodying site activities unrepresented by larger artifacts in the bit of attention! In addition to keeping everyone on task and busy, archaeological record. I am fortunate to be able to have time to dig alongside my men, The work of the DEDP, as well as my own research on micro- complete paperwork, and pick up the occasional Turkish insult or debris, will continue to contribute and impact our understanding joke. The support I received from a Heritage Fellowship considerably of the Near East through its focus on the domestic aspects of past diminished my travel expenses, allowing me the opportunity to both daily social life. Up to this point, much of the archaeological work partake in this amazing archaeological opportunity and explore the of the Near and Middle East has focused on the grandeur of monu- greater area of Southeast Turkey on my time off. mental architecture and lifestyles of the elite. Though in recent years the lives of non-elite majority has grown into fashion, the methodology for successful interpretation requires a much more PLATT REPORTS detailed approach than previously granted. My project looks to provide this required attention into the daily tacit life experienced Nicholas Ames, University of California, Berkeley by the people of Jordan’s past whom lived under tumultuous peri- ods of imperial dominance, and how this complex past continues o r k i n g to shape the local communities of today. in Jor- Wdan un- Nadia Ben-Marzouk, University of California, der the largesse of Los Angeles the Platt Fellowship has proved to be a his summer marked my first season with the Jaffa Cultural mind-opening and Heritage Project (JCHP) and first time as a staff member on productive experi- Tan excavation. The overall focus of the JCHP’s excavations ence in developing a during the 2012 solid grasp on mod- season was on the ern archaeological Late Bronze Age techniques, as well Egyptian gateway as collecting data for complex in Area my own project on A, which contains micro-debris analy- a large amount of sis of multi-period destruction debris, domestic contexts and was a continued of Dhiban. effort from the 2011 Participation in season. The area was the Dhiban Excava- dug by Jacob Kaplan tion and Develop- in the 1950s, and ment Project (DEDP) field-school taught me proper methods for again in the 1990s excavation, such as troweling, sweeping, collecting soil and phy- by Ze’ev Herzog, tolith samples, and documentation of our excavated units through however, little has photographing, measuring, drawing and many others. Within my been published from own project, I was able to collect contextually relevant samples of these excavations. micro-debris, artifacts smaller than 1cm in size, throughout dif- The JCHP’s exca- ferent site areas to use for my methodological review of current vations, therefore, archaeological interpretive practices. play a critical role
ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 41 in understanding the previously excavated architectural phases In addition, I also had the opportunity to help excavate one and their relationship to the destruction that occurred in this space. of the cisterns on site. To enter, I descended down a long shaft to Our work this season concentrated on locating the ground reach an open area with branching tunnels. It was dark, spotted floor in hopes of providing important dating material to pinpoint with spiders and slugs, and full of dirt. I had to move dirt from features exposed by previous excavations, and to shed new light one tunnel trough the other as the only option of moving was the on the nature of the construction and consequent destruction of army-crawl. Personally, this was the moment that put me in awe the LB gateway. We were able to identify at least three distinct ar- at the reality of the exciting direction my life is taking as a future chitectural phases, which date from the Late Bronze IA–IIB, with archaeologist. each phase of the gateway containing a different type of mudbrick I truly had the time of my life. construction. Although we were unable to reach the ground floor, important diagnostic material was recovered in secure destruction Patrick Clark, University of California, Berkeley debris that helped to date each phase. Next season, the JCHP ten- tatively expects to excavate the lowest level of the LB gateway. I his summer I had the privilege of receiving the Platt Fellow- would like to thank ASOR for the Platt fellowship which afforded ship. This generous grant enabled me to join Dr. Andrew M. me the opportunity to contribute to this exciting project. TSmith II for a second incredible field season at Bir Madh-
Caroline Carter, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
his summer, I attended my second season at Huqoq, Israel under direction of Jodi Magness of the University of North TCarolina at Chapel Hill and the Israel Antiquities Authority.
kur. In my photo I am sitting on a boulder in a wadi, recording a Bedouin camp built on a Roman-era wadi terrace. My friend, and our guide, Musa yells “Shoof, Ghadeer (my Bedouin name)!” I look up. A camel is walking up to me. My friend yells from across the wadi, “Dude, I got a nice Facebook photo!” The camel starts sniffing my site form. So I give the camel an old one, thinking it won’t enjoy paper. The camel eats my site form. To my surprise, the camel does not find paper disgusting, but delicious, and starts sniffing for more. Finally, Musa comes over to lead the camel away. Last year was the first season of the Huqoq Excavation Project as well as my first dig then as an upcoming sophomore double What is important about this moment is not the cool Face- majoring in Classical Archaeology and Religious Studies at UNC book photo or the close encounter with a camel, but the two things Chapel Hill. Upon arrival, I had been notified that I had been the camel and the site together indicate. The first is that ancient promoted to be a square supervisor! I was assigned to the same peoples exploited the same limited fertile land as the Bedouin do square I worked in last year- SQ7/7 in the village area- east of today. One feature of my site was the wadi terrace, created by the synagogue. Without ASOR, I would not have had the chance a Roman-era wall for small scale agriculture (I am sitting on a to go nor make the wonderful memories I did. part of the wall). At the same time, a man named Abdullah was herding his camels into the same wadi to feed. Thus when think- One of those memories: WE FOUND A MOSAIC FLOOR ing about how ancient peoples exploited the limited resources of ON THE ANCIENT SYNAGOGUE!!!! This is a day that I will the region, it might be helpful to use the Bedouin as a compari- never forget. It was one of those tired and slow mornings- sev- son. The second is that the ancients permanently altered the land- eral people were feeling ill and the square I was supervising in scape. The wadi terrace created a flat, clear area that the Bedouin the village area wasn’t finding much of anything. All of the sud- reused for a camp (you can see the hearth dug in the middle of the den we heard a scream of excitement from the area of the syna- terrace behind me). In other areas, the some Bedouin still exploit gogue. The volunteers and students nearby gathered around one large Roman-era field systems. square with the biggest smiles on their faces. As everyone in my area started curiously getting out of their squares, we hear Prof. To conclude, scholarships, such as the Platt and Heritage, are Magness scream, “Mosaic!!!!” I’m not sure if I have ever run indispensible for students like me in our quests for knowledge that fast. and experience. 42 ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 Carrie Fulton, Cornell University
n 1897, an expedition by the British Museum to Cyprus opened a number of pits in search of tombs in the lower Maroni Valley Iat Tsaroukkas, removing many objects of interest and backfilling the pits they had created. Fast-forward about 115 years later and thanks to the generous funding from the Platt Fellowship through ASOR I was able to join the Kalavasos and Maroni Built Environ- ments (KAMBE) Project for a month of excavation. The project, led by Dr. Sturt Manning (Cornell University) and Dr. Kevin Fisher (University of Arkansas), has focused on using geophysical survey to elucidate patterns in the Late Bronze Age occupation for this region of Cyprus, and this season they added excavation to ground truth their findings.
Middle East and immersing myself in a simply fascinating culture. The Platt Fellowship, awarded to me by ASOR, helped me make this dream a reality. Located some kilometers east of Madaba, Tall Jalul is believed to be the largest tell in central Jordan. It is also believed to have been an important settlement for the Ammonites and Moabites dur- ing the Iron Age, and perhaps even the Biblical town of Heshbon. With this much history buried under the dirt, I was more than eager to get my hands on some picks and shovels and start finding it. I left Puerto Rico with my professor and arrived in Jordan two days later. Then we set off from Amman to Madaba to meet with the rest of the team. This was my first “real” experience in field ar- chaeology, and I had never worked in such a large site as Tall Jalul. The first thing I noticed on the first day was the water cistern that Additionally, we extended excavations at the Late Bronze was uncovered the previous summer. The size and depth of it were Age site of Maroni-Tsaroukkas outside of two buildings that had quite impressive, and I could easily picture it filled with water and been excavated in the early 1990s as part of the Maroni Valley glistening in the sunlight; the beautiful “pools of Heshbon” from Archaeological Survey Project under the direction of Dr. Sturt the Song of Solomon. Manning. In one of the trenches I worked in, just outside of one I was pleasantly surprised when I was assigned to the square building, we came across a wall. As we continued to excavate, we in the cistern, supervised by the awesome Erica Fortin. My square, noticed the soil to the north of the wall was different from what nicknamed the United Nation since none of us were from the same was inside the wall, indicating what was most definitely a pit country, had the goal of reaching the base of the cistern’s wall and from the British Museum’s expedition in 1897. As we continued find some pottery to date the cistern. We had some surprises along to excavate, we uncovered pottery and stone tools that had been the way, not the least of which was a second wall that seemed to go discarded by the British Museum diggers and thrown into the pit straight into the cistern wall. We also found animal bones, arrow as backfill, including potsherds from several large pithoi, coarse heads and a whole lot of pottery. wares, base ring ware, and white-slip vases. The experience of digging in the Middle East has served to My involvement in the KAMBE project this summer has enhance my love for history and archaeology. been invaluable and on our days when we weren’t working, I had a chance to travel and experience areas of Cyprus. In addition to Nicolas Gauthier, Boston University thanking Drs. Sturt Manning and Kevin Fisher for allowing me to participate in the project, I owe this amazing opportunity to the spent my summer as an ASOR Platt Fellow in western Turkey as assistance from the Platt Fellowship through ASOR. a member of the Central Lydia Archaeological Survey (CLAS). ICLAS is a diachronic study of cultural patterns around Lake Mar- Mariana Garcia de la Noceda, mara, a large freshwater lake in the hinterland of the Iron Age metrop- University of Puerto Rico olis of Sardis. CLAS researchers, led by Professors Christina Luke and Christopher Roosevelt of Boston University, have used intensive hen I learned that one of my professors was going to dig pedestrian survey to build a rich dataset reflecting patterns of land in Jordan with Andrew’s University’s Madaba Plains use and subsistence over the past 7,000 years around Lake Marmara. WProject, I begged her to take me along. Not only was 250 potential sites have been identified in past seasons; the focus of it a once in a lifetime opportunity to gain some valuable experi- this summer was in expanding the survey coverage to the northern ence in field archaeology, but I had always dreamed of visiting the shore of the lake. A center of habitation in antiquity, the region north
ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 43 of Lake Marmara (unsurprisingly named N), to see whether the structure walls in L is now threatened and M continued. After several weeks of excavation, we managed by the construction to uncover what appeared to be two parallel walls (one of which of a major high- showed signs of having been built off of and adapted with further way slated for the improvements), and a fire pit outlined with fixed stones, all buried coming years. The under a layer of rubble. Unfortunately, circumstances conspired to project also revisited rob us of our supervisor, so my group was split and transferred to several previously other areas of the dig. identified Bronze Age settlements for I was placed more intensive in- in area BB for the vestigation. final two weeks The sprawl- of the dig. Area ing orchards and BB was home to a vineyards of west- just-revealed room, ern Turkey proved a parallel couple a fitting backdrop of walls, and what not only to encoun- appeared to be sev- ter a host of survey eral stone circles techniques but also and features. I was an appreciation of placed at the south- some of the subtler joys of archaeological research. Two teammates ernmost part of and I were tasked with conducting electrical resistance survey on BB, with the job of Kaymakçı – a Middle and Late Bronze Age citadel on a mountain- cleaning out one of ous spur directly west of the lake that was larger than contempora- the stone features neous levels at Troy and all other known cities in western Anatolia. to see whether it Though I now look back at my week on Kaymakçı favorably, had been an inten- it seemed at first a dubious honor to spend each day navigating tional structure or thigh-high thistles and unusually resilient spider webs for nine-plus merely a collection hours. The gusting wind quickly snapped the metal frames of our of rubble. It was revealed to be the latter, but beneath said rubble tent and the mallets we used to set up grid lines shattered, reducing there were a number of bones belonging to pigs or sheep/goats, us to driving stakes into the ground with whatever rocks we could as well as several pieces of local pottery and lithics (blades and find. The sun had sapped all moisture from the already compact flakes) of presumably local origin. A burnt seed was also found, soil; for the resistance meter to get an accurate reading in such and a soil sample was accordingly taken. As of now, I have not conditions we had to pre-drill holes directly into the ground and managed to remove all of the stones that had previously belonged then far-from-delicately drive in the meter’s electrodes. Even the to the rubble assemblage, but hopefully next season will see them wooden rig to which the meter itself was attached had snapped by fully removed. our final transects (though soon repaired by local craftsmen). I’d like to close out this report by stating my appreciation for But upon returning to the lab and uploading each day’s hard- the Platt Fellowship provided by ASOR, and expressing my ex- won data, all hardship was completely forgotten. Every new tran- treme personal enjoyment of this dig. sect made the picture of the complex mud-brick architecture buried less than a meter beneath our feet increasingly clear. It was so grati- Andrew LoPinto, University of Arkansas fying to see such tangible results after so many painstaking hours and to know that we had truly earned these data. The feeling is he principle purpose of my involvement with the Penn State quite addictive, and in its pursuit I anticipate braving several more Expedition to Mendes was to serve as the bioarchaeologist spidery fields in the years to come. Tfor the excavation and analysis of the human remains. Dur- Theodore Gold, University of Chicago ing the excavation season (23 June-19 August) five burials were uncovered and excavated, all dating to the First Intermediate Period his season, I worked at the Chalcolithic site of Marj Rabba for (approximately 2200 BCE). In previous years, contemporaneous a total of six weeks, doing fieldwork, pottery and lithics wash- burials had been radiocarbon dated to secure the most accurate Ting and marking, as well as a bit of flint analysis on the side. dates for these burials. The site itself was divided between areas AA, BB, and CC. I The five burials excavated consisted of three adults and two began working in area CC (which was divided into squares L and sub-adults. All of the burials were individual interments (there M) under the direction of our archaeobotanist. CC’s distinguishing were no joint or group burials), and of the five, four appeared to features lie in several masonry walls, two of which run in a distinct be purposefully interred. parallel without flooring which suggests some kind of street(?). Due to the extremely poor preservation of skeletal material in Our goal, post cleaning up L and M, was to open up a new square the Egyptian delta, the remains were in very bad condition, and had
44 ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 hydrias, there appears to be pine resin streaked inside. The hydrias are located in the cargo area, so it seems unlikely that they carried just water, and the pine residue also suggests a content of retsina wine or simply resin for export. Inside various vessels were found olive pits, suffered extensive taphonomic damage. Of the three adult individu- what appear to be grape stems, and other seeds that seem to have als, only one was reliably classified as “male” while the other two come from grapes or some other fruit. Beneath the layer of hydrias could not have sex identified. Age determination was also difficult, was another layer of Chian amphoras, indicating the ship’s lower and impossible in one case as the burial had been damaged in a deck. At these layers more and more wood began being uncovered, previous season’s excavation and consisted only of legs and feet. until finally the vessel’s hull was revealed during the last week of The two sub-adults were in equally poor condition. These excavation. The exposed wood was then reburied until next season. two burials, though both of children, were distinctly different. The nature of the wreck is still unclear. It made stops at Ath- The individuals, aged to approximately seven and ten years at the ens, Chios, and Samos, but it is unknown if it even arrived in Cy- time of death, respectively, received very different treatment upon prus before sinking, or where its port of origin was. Future sea- interment. The seven-year-old child was very carefully interred in sons of excavation and scientific examination of the botanical finds what appeared to be a coffin of some kind (possibly wood, though (including the wood of the ship) will hopefully help to write this it was difficult to determine) and was the only burial this season ancient vessel’s final report. to contain any grave goods--a single glazed ceramic earring. The ten-year-old, by contrast, did not appear to have been buried with Carolyn Swan, Brown University any ceremony, but rather looked like it had been buried where it had died. The body position was different than all of the other uring this 2012 summer excavation season I served as the burials and neither grave goods nor burial equipment were found. glass artifact specialist for two archaeological projects This season offered an interesting insight into First Interme- Dlocated in Israel and Turkey. It is due to the generosity of diate Period burial, which is a little-studied subject. Further exca- ASOR and the Platt Fellowship that this was possible, and I am very vation of the non-elite burials at Mendes could well provide a new grateful to have had this opportunity. understanding of life in this period of Egyptian history. I spent the first part of my summer working with Jodi Mag- ness (UNC-Chapel Hill) at the site of Horbat Huqoq in the Galilee Sara Rich, University of Leuven region of Israel, studying the glass assemblage that was excavated
he Mazotos shipwreck lies off the southern coast of Cyprus at a depth of ~45m, and its third year of excavation has just Tbeen completed. The previous two years were focused on excavating the south end of the wreck, which corresponds to the bow (front) of the 18-m long cargo vessel. In previous years, we exposed part of the preserved hull and keel at the bow, and three lead anchor stocks were also uncovered and surfaced. This 2012 season however, the focus was shifted from the bow to the stern of the ship, or the north end of the shipwreck. From amphora typology, it is estimated that the ship went down a few decades before the Kyrenia during the Late Classical Period (mid-fourth c. BC). She was stocked with mostly Chian and some Samian amphoras, but this year Attic hydrias (water jugs) were also excavated and surfaced. These small hydrias are flat on the bottom, unlike the amphoras, and so were designed to set directly on a tabletop. On the insides of several of the surfaced
ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 45 from a Jewish village. Although the main occupation of the site excavations were all from a small Islamic population within the dates to the Late Roman/Early Byzantine period, our project is village. I found myself chatting with the Ethiopian workers in interested in all periods of the site’s occupation—including the broken Arabic about the ancient Sabaean population that appears modern Arab village that was built over a portion of the ancient to have migrated from modern Yemen onto the Horn of Africa in settlement, which was abandoned in 1948 and bulldozed in the the 8th century BC. Additionally, while the irregular stone-and- 1960s. As a glass specialist I therefore spent just as much time and mud architecture were nothing like the beautiful mudbrick walls attention on those glass finds dating well after the Byzantine period I’ve grown accustomed to in Syria and Oman, the domestic as- as I did to those dating to that particular era. I’m currently writing semblage of hearths, cookware pottery, and assorted stone tools up the results of this season, and am very much looking forward to made me feel right at home. returning to this site over the next 4-5 years of the project. A surprisingly short plane ride away, in Azerbaijan’s Naxçi- After spending one month in Israel, I traveled to southern van Province, I began my second field project for the summer. Turkey to participate in the final study season of the Kinet Höyük This year marks my fourth year participating in the Naxçivan Ar- project. My job was to study the glass that was excavated during chaeological Project – a project which considers the development the 2011 field season at Tupras Field, a part of the site approxi- of political complexity in the southern Caucuses in contrast to mately 800m north of the Kinet mound, which has been identified that of Mesopotamia. In previous years I’ve supervised an exca- by Asa Eger (UNC-Greensboro) as the Early Islamic settlement vation unit and served as the small finds registrar. This year, as of Hisn al-Tinat. The glass from this site dates primarily to the the project was running a shorter study season, I had the oppor- 8th-12th centuries CE; I previously examined the glass finds from tunity to help fill in the small holes left in our understanding of the 2008-2010 excavation seasons, incorporating these artifacts the site of Oglanqala and it surroundings. My tasks included as- into my doctoral dissertation research. I am also currently writ- sisting on survey, mapping, ceramic analysis and drawing, small ing up the results of the 2012 field season, and I have plans to finds conservation, and even trying my hand at kite photogra- chemically analyze a selection of the glass fragments in order to phy! Although it was initially disorienting not to be excavating determine the glass raw materials, processing, and possible eco- at Oglanqala, the small tasks and ‘filling in’ of holes gave me nomic/trade links. a new, more comprehensive perspective of the site and of how field archaeologists ideally construct site interpretations based on Jennifer Swerida, Johns Hopkins University extended fieldwork. These experiences were made possible by the generosity of he field of the Platt Foundation, for which I am sincerely grateful. ‘Near Eastern TArchaeology’ Clive Vella, Brown University encompasses a nebu- lous temporal and geographic array of archaeological sites and interwoven his- tories. Recent schol- arship has seen the boundaries of the ‘Near East’ flex to incorporate ever-broader interaction zones. In the summer of 2012, the Platt Fellowship enabled me to participate in field projects in two such peripheral Near Eastern regions: the Southern Red Sea Archaeological His- tories (SRSAH) Project in Ethiopia, run by Dr. Michael Harrower (Johns Hopkins University), and the Naxçivan Archaeological Project in Azerbaijan, run by Dr. Lauren Ristvet (University of Pennsylvania). Both projects consider the nature and development of complex societies in regions adjacent to more well known Near Eastern polities. Although this was my second year participating in the SRSAH Project, I continue to be surprised at how working in Ethiopia can simultaneously be vastly different from and yet hauntingly familiar to my experiences on projects in the Levant or Southern Arabia. The SRSAH Project is made up of a regional survey component and an excavation component, centered on the largest known site in the 10002 km survey area. My role was to head up the latter component – an experience that gave me a am fascinated by the places that archaeology takes me to, and taste of the many challenges faced by the dig director. While the thus far, I have never been disappointed. In fact, one can only vibrant local culture of the village near our site is unlike any- Ihope that no unfortunate event or misgiving can ever squan- thing I have previously experienced, the workmen assisting our der anyone’s archaeological experience. For me, this mantra was 46 ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012 seriously tested when I severely dislocated my finger during our second week of the field season. Yet, one cannot forget the ulti- WRIGHT REPORT mate archaeological experience, i.e. teamwork. Indeed, thanks to my several colleagues, their energy and their inquisitiveness, this Ian Herriott, University of California, Berkeley season shaped up to be the best one in Jordan yet. used my fellow- Thanks to the generous aid provided by the ASOR Platt Fel- ship to fund my lowship, I returned to Jordan once more with the Brown Univer- airfare to and sity Petra Archaeological Project (BUPAP). As a multi-compo- I from Israel. I joined nent project, BUPAP operates on numerous endeavors including the 3 week dig season a systematic field survey and features documentation. While in at Tel Burna, directed previous years the BUPAP excavation sub-project focused on by Joe Uziel and Itz- the Islamic village of Beidha, this season our research turned to ick Shai of Bar Ilan a wider focus. In conjunction with my colleagues, we decided University and then to turn our excavation interests towards multiple archaeological the 4 week season at sites that were potentially Nabataean. However, due to lack of Tell es-Safi/Gath, di- investigation these minor sites outside of Petra had never been rected by Aren Maeir appropriately tested or studied stratigraphically. Therefore, our also of Bar Ilan Uni- aims for this season included the comprehension of the chrono- versity. logical phasing of cultural features currently recognizable in the plough-soil surface as well as to provide the BUPAP project with At Tel-Burna a better sense of the human use across the wider Petra region. I spent my time However, as our season progressed it became apparent to us that digging in a Late we should also illustrate patterns of looting. Bronze age context with massive archi- Aside from the numerous sites investigated, the ultimate re- tecture, and a rich ality remains that the modern interest in Petra is leading to an material culture just centimeters below the surface, and bedrock increased conflict between contemporary use, archaeological her- not far beneath. The exact nature of the structures being unearthed itage, and conservation. Through our work this past season, we there is still not certain, but many indications point to a cultic func- have managed to examine ten sites across the wider Petra region, tion. One of the most exciting finds for me was a trio of plum sized gather a substantial corpus of data and garner a better sense of vessels, seemingly parts of a kernos, resting perfectly upright to- how humans adapted and exploited their surrounding landscape. gether upon a large sherd, directly on top of a stone, all laid on bed- Therefore, I would like to finally thank those who have gracious- rock. Everything seemed exactly as someone had placed them over ly contributed to my ASOR Platt Fellowship. I hope to return this 3,000 years ago. I also spent a couple weeks in 9th and 8th century great honor by studying this place in the coming years and as Judahite levels on top of the tell. I had a chance to dig within case- always remain fascinated by it. mate walls, which had been pocked in later times with silos. Aside from intriguing architecture, exciting things surfaced nearby, like a complete Judean decanter, a LMLK jar handle, and an especially gorgeous Judean pillar figurine head. At Tell es-Safi/Gath I spent four intensely productive weeks in a 9th century destruction level. The finds were almost overwhelm- ing. I had the joy of excavating many complete and intact vessels; from pear sized juglets to storage jars the size of large pumpkins. However, in other nearby areas of the site there was ample evi- dence of a massive and violent destruction, with smashed charred artifacts and stratigraphy showing collapsed roofs. It was impos- sible to not become immersed in the sheer reality of the event we were unveiling, the violent end to an illustrious Philistine city. Many dig volunteers express having had a “once in a lifetime” experience. It was early during my first dig in 2011 that I resolved to myself I would not be satisfied with a single season of archaeol- ogy. This 2012 Wright fellowship made coming back to Israel a possibility for me. Thank you.
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48 ASOR Newsletter, Summer/Fall 2012